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ELLAND ROAD, LEEDS // Dominik Szoboszlai thought he had saved Ibrahima Konate some embarrassment after Hugo Ekitike netted a brace, only for Ao Tanaka to score a late equalizer for Leeds against Liverpool.
The Reds would have moved into fifth place in the Premier League standings with a win but couldn't hold on. After a goalless first half in which very little happened for either side, Ekitike scored twice in three minutes to put Liverpool firmly in the ascendancy.
But a calamitous tackle from Konate, completely unprompted, saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin get the chance to score from the penalty spot. Szoboszlai then put the Reds in front again in a goal-filled second half at Elland Road and Tanaka leveled in stoppage time.
Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.
Hugo Ekitike takes his chance
Hugo Ekitike deserved the chance to start ahead of Alexander Isak, and in fairness, he has for some time. The Frenchman's last goal, though, came all the way back in mid-October.
In part, Ekitike's drought has been caused by the 23-year-old not being given the same run in the side that Isak has been afforded as he builds up his fitness.
Though he wasn't always perfect here, Ekitike looked determined to show why he deserves a run.
What he needed more than anything was a bit more from those around him, with Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz ineffective and the Liverpool defense falling apart at times. What he got was a gift from Joe Rodon and then a second goal just two minutes later.
Ending his drought, this felt like a big day for the $106 million (£79 million) man before it was overshadowed.
Mohamed Salah left out
Mohamed Salah came off the bench midweek against Sunderland and threatened, for a few minutes, to prove a point. That soon tailed off, however, and it turned into a bit of a nothing performance.
"We need him, and he will still be important like he has been," Virgil van Dijk told reporters after that draw. "We still have to remember there is a reason why he has been so successful at the club and we have to respect that."
Once more, though, he was benched here. He didn't come on again and that is a major statement, especially as Liverpool didn't win.
Defense vulnerable again
Somewhere between one in four and one in five of Leeds' passes against Chelsea were long balls — a clearly deliberate tactic to unsettle Enzo Maresca's backline. It worked then and Liverpool has struggled with similar pressures all season long.
Ibrahima Konate, in particular, looked nervy on this occasion. Even Virgil van Dijk got away with one or two errors that he wouldn't normally make. For whatever reason, the Liverpool stars at the back never looked completely comfortable.
Van Dijk was fuming at either himself or those around him when the third goal went in, but he wasn't particularly great himself.
Liverpool beat West Ham, but Nuno Espirito Santo's men didn't lay a glove on the Reds. Leeds showed here why, when more teams do in the coming months, Slot needs to find some improvement if he wants to properly climb the table.
In fairness to the Liverpool boss, however, he can't do much about his players making ridiculous decisions. What exactly what Konate thinking when he dived in? Only he will know. That was the key turning point.
Mixed changes
Curtis Jones came in for Alexis Mac Allister here, and with the Argentine having started the last five league games — with very mixed results for both him and the team — freshening things up made sense.
Likewise, with Joe Gomez having started the last two games and Conor Bradley back available, it made sense to go with the Northern Irishman. He looked a little rusty but got into things, only then to be held back by his yellow card.
Jones was good and deserves to keep his place against Inter Milan on Tuesday. Bradley might be asked to go again on the basis of him being the only fit right-back — and someone who can't face Brighton next Saturday anyway.
Ekitike was decent enough in the main and scored two, while Milos Kerkez didn't do a great deal. Of the four players who came into the team, then, one word sums it up: mixed.
Premier League standings
Emi Buendia scored a 95th-minute winner for Aston Villa against Arsenal, but that didn't really register in a Liverpool context ahead of kick-off. The Reds are, after all, a mile off being in title contention and showed that here.
"Right now, I think we should focus first on us, and not on the top four," Dominik Szoboszlai told reporters ahead of the game. "I think there is a long way to go. We have seen many, many comebacks in the history of the Premier League."
That was a fair assessment and this looked like a Liverpool team that is in a real battle for the top four or five places. A win would have moved it level with Chelsea here, which shows how congested things are, but it couldn't get over the line.
The problems — and the lack of quality and cohesion across the field — remain clear. There will be more downs before things are consistently on the up again, it seems, even if the Reds almost found a way on this occasion.
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