Key events
7 min: Gomez, clearly rattled by his mistake, flies a simple pass straight out of play. He’ll need to clear his head quicksmart.
6 min: … and so Liverpool go behind yet again in the Premier League, for the eighth time this season. They try to bounce back immediately, winning a corner down the right. Van Dijk then heads harmlessly over.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Leeds United (Rodrigo 4)
It’s now 1-1 in defensive cock-ups, but it’s 1-0 to Leeds! Gomez, out on the Liverpool right, plays a blind ball back towards Alisson … or so he thinks. Alisson had come to the right-hand edge of his area, and the ball angles past him, rolling across the face of the goal and teeing up Rodrigo for the simplest of tap-ins. What a fiasco!
2 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. Liverpool so close to going in front after 39 seconds!
Leeds kick off and ship possession quicksmart. Alisson launches long. Meslier comes out of his box, but Cooper, rushing the other way, heads the ball past him. Salah nips in and shoots from a tight angle. Koch gets back to head clear off the line. Nearly a farcical start to the game!
The teams are out! Liverpool in red, Leeds white. Jurgen Klopp slips as he enters the dugout and nearly falls peaked cap first into the seats. But he stays upright. Just. We’ll be off in a minute!
Jurgen Klopp speaks to Sky Sports. “Their midfield press is pretty extreme. We need to break lines and have different options to do so. We need to be perfectly protected because of the speed they have on the counter. We need to be patient.”
Jesse Marsch, who made an impression at Anfield during his Salzburg days, also has a word. “When you look at the table, if we find a way to get a couple of results, we will be fine. If we can somehow perform at our best in our toughest moments, it will make everyone feel we are moving in the right direction. We know getting a win here at Anfield is a big task, but we believe in ourselves. The guys are aligned. We have a good line-up on the pitch from the start and guys that can come off the bench to make an impact. We want to be aggressive. Play passively and it makes it almost impossible, under these lights with the crowd. Let’s go for it.”
Just one change for Liverpool from the XI selected to start the 3-0 win at Ajax. Thiago has recovered from his ear infection and takes the place of Jordan Henderson, who drops to the bench.
Leeds make three changes to the team that lost 3-2 at home to Fulham last weekend. Crysencio Summerville, Tyler Adams and Rasmus Kristensen are back; Luke Ayling and Sam Greenwood drop to the bench, while Luis Sinisterra is injured.
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Elliott, Thiago, Firmino, Salah, Nunez.
Subs: Konate, Milner, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Tsimikas, Carvalho, Phillips, Kelleher.
Leeds United: Meslier, Kristensen, Koch, Cooper, Struijk, Adams, Roca, Harrison, Aaronson, Summerville, Rodrigo.
Subs: Ayling, Firpo, Bamford, Llorente, Robles, Gnonto, Gelhardt, Greenwood, Klich.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Preamble
Both sides really, really, really could do with a win. Liverpool, second favourites for the title before a ball was kicked this season, have suffered their worst start in six years. Leeds meanwhile are in the relegation places having picked up just two points from the last 24 available. More often than not, one way or another, these clubs put on a show, and with the three points so precious, the same could well prove true tonight. Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST. It’s on!