Liverpool vs Leeds live: Arne Slot’s side hoping to start New Year with fifth win on bounce | OneFootball

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Slot urges patience with Liverpool's big-money signings

Liverpool will have the chance to banish bad memories from last month as they take on Leeds United in their first Premier League clash of 2026.

Elland Road hosted a six-goal thriller less than four weeks ago as Leeds notched a 96th-minute equaliser to salvage a 3-3 draw against the Reds, though the result was not the major talking point when the dust had settled.

Mohamed Salah, who had been benched for a third successive game, went on a scathing tirade of Arne Slot and the Liverpool hierarchy after full-time, throwing the club into a firestorm as question marks suddenly surrounded his future.

It seemed a civil war was brewing at Anfield but any grievances appear to have been resolved, with Salah returning to the squad to a warm Anfield reception the following week, while Liverpool have since won four on the bounce in all competitions.

Leeds team to face Liverpool at Anfield

Leeds XI: Perri; Justin, Gudmundsson, Bornauw, Bijol, Struijk; Ampadu, Gruev, Stach, Aaronson; Nmecha

Mike Jones1 January 2026 16:21

Liverpool line-up to face Leeds

Liverpool XI: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones; Frimpong, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike

Mike Jones1 January 2026 16:18

Almost time for the line-ups

It’s nearly time for the line-ups to drop. Liverpool are hoping to get themselves firmly into the top four and will attempt to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal.

Leeds, meanwhile, are 16th but are unbeaten in their last five matches and any points they can take from Anfield today would be a big boost.

But who have the managers selected to play out this New Year’s Day battle?

Let’s find out...

Mike Jones1 January 2026 16:12

Visiting Anfield is 'most challenging and difficult task'

Leeds manager Daniel Farke says he is relishing the chance to take on Liverpool a Anfield this afternoon.

He revealed: "We don't have to speak about their potential. They have dominated the league and last season, rarely a different team has done in the years before.

"To go in on New Years Day to Anfield is more or less one of the most challenging and difficult tasks you can have, but we want to have those games.

“We want to play back on the top level, we have it right now and we have challenges, and we're looking forward to this game.”

(AFP via Getty Images)

Liverpool’s £450m spending spree, examined: This has been an unhappy, underwhelming experiment

The club who began 2025 with an eight-point advantage at the Premier League summit could end it with a greater deficit to the leaders. A year of triumph and tragedy for Liverpool has also featured unprecedented spending. Glance at the league table and their transfer business and it suggests they have spent £450m to get worse. They will enter 2026 exactly half-way through their Premier League campaign. If the half-term report for the team reads ‘could do better’, that applies to most of their signings.

Liverpool’s £450m spending spree, examined: This has been an underwhelming experiment

Arne Slot expects to see more from his expensive recruits in the second half of the season - and he will be judged on what they deliver

Richard Jolly1 January 2026 16:00

Nothing is achieved yet

"We know we are in a good position. If you are there after 18 matchdays already with 20 points, it's great,” says Leeds boss Daniel Farke.

He added: "We have shown also that there is a chance for the promoted sides and we're on a good path, but nothing is achieved yet."

Mike Jones1 January 2026 15:54

Slot on reverse fixture at Elland Road

The Liverpool boss said: “I don't prefer to cope with another day like that. But it's part of our lives in football. We have highs and lows, so we have to accept that.

“What I mainly took and take from it is that we struggled a lot, or much more, when they went to a four when they started to play 4-3-3 in the last 20 minutes of the game. That's also when they scored their goals.

“But we struggled more when they played with four than when they played with five [at the back]. I will definitely look at both, but especially the moment when they went to a four at the back.”

Mike Jones1 January 2026 15:48

Goals have a massive impact

Slot went on to add that goals at either end of the pitch can change the momentum of a close match and he wants his team to stop conceding at crucial moments.

“It tells you how important goals are in a low-scoring sport, because that's what football is,” Slot said. “A moment can change momentum and that's what we saw last week [at Tottenham Hotspur] and what we saw [versus Wolves]. I think in both games until the moment we concede it was the performance you would like from a Liverpool team.

“Although in the first half [against Wolves] with so much ball possession, in an ideal world I see even more chances created. Again, we didn't score our first two chances.

“Goals have a massive impact on the momentum of a game and that's what's been shown in the last two games of ours for sure.”

(REUTERS)

Is Florian Wirtz finally adapting to the Premier League?

After scoring his first goal for Liverpool in the Premier League it seems as though Florian Wirtz is beginning to show signs of the form which saw him excel in the Bundesliga.

Liverpool coach Arne Slot was asked how difficult it is to adapt to a new club and country and whether this is something Wirtz has struggled with.

Slot explained: “The first few months in a different country - because it was also my first experience going abroad - it's different. Your life is a bit upside down and that for a manager is probably not the biggest problem because I don't have to perform on the pitch, but I could fully understand that some individuals and some players need a bit of time to adapt off the pitch as well.

“The biggest adaptation if you come from abroad is this league and how intense it is, because again [against Wolverhampton Wanderers] I think even when we play once a week you could see that Hugo [Ekitike] had cramp after 70 or 75 minutes, and I didn't take Florian out because he played bad, I took him out because he was hardly able to keep on running anymore.

“That has also been the situation with him but also that tells you about the new players that we've brought in and how big of a step it is to adjust to these intensity levels.”