Farke's resilient Leeds frustrate goal shy Liverpool

After the game that had everything, the match that had nothing.

- RICHARD JOLLY

Liverpool 0

Leeds 0

The rewards for either side were the same but, as Liverpool and Leeds reconvened 26 days after a remarkable 3-3 draw and a still more memorable post-match interview, there was no six-goal second half. With Mohamed Salah on a different continent, he was not around to accuse anyone of throwing him under the bus.

If a rematch had a historical significance, it lay only in the statistical. In his 84th game in charge, this was Liverpool's belated first 0-0 draw under Arne Slot; indeed their first since 2023. Not that too many of a Liverpool persuasion will celebrate that.

Leeds could. Their defence shared a group hug after the final whistle and such memories that are preserved from a largely forgettable encounter should be of the resilience of Daniel Farke's increasingly redoubtable side. Their unbeaten run stretches to six games, two of them against Liverpool, and they now have a seven-point gap to West Ham. "A really good day," said Farke. "It was always clear that we would need a special performance today to travel away with a point." He got it.

If two managers are justifying boards who did not sack them when results dried up, Liverpool felt frustration even as they took their own undefeated sequence to eight. "The end result of both games [against Leeds] is a draw and that's a disappointment," said Slot.