Liverpool were undone by a late Leeds equaliser in a game that saw the return of Fabinho to central defence.
Jurgen Klopp and his players were met at the stadium by Leeds supporters angry at the proposed Super League, perhaps targetting their ire at the wrong group of people. In the pre-match warm up the Leeds players wore t-shirts with the UEFA Champions League emblem and the words 'Earn it' underneath.
🗣 "My opinion didn't change, I heard first time about it yesterday."
Jurgen Klopp was asked about Liverpool's inclusion in the 'European Super League' and his comments he made in 2019 pic.twitter.com/WQQiRaZjzv
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) 19 April 2021
They left a similar group of t-shirts in the Liverpool dressing room - a move that did not please Jurgen Klopp. The Liverpool manager later admitted he found about the proposals at the same time as most of the rest of the football community.
The reds had an opportunity to go back into the top four with victory but Leeds have enjoyed a good set of results recently - including defeating Man City just last weekend.
With Nat Phillips unavailable for the game with a hamstring issue it meant that the relatively successful domestic partnership of him and Kabak had to be broken up - and with Fabinho back in defence Thiago was restored to midfield.
Despite all the furore of the previous 24 hours the reds started positively, dominating the first half and should have had more than a 1-0 lead at the break. Jota's pass found Trent Alexander-Arnold and he sent it in for Sadio Mane to score his first goal in 10 games. Salah was watching on from the bench as the reds enjoyed the lions share of the ball.
However, the reds faded rapidly in the second half as the midfield became overrun. The vociferous captain on the night, James Milner, was increasingly forced to retreat into defensive positions.
Salah came on and saw one shot squirm narrowly wide of the post, and as injury time approached Firmino fashioned a chance for another sub, Oxlade-Chamberlain, who failed to get the ball from out under his feet.
But it was Leeds who continued to send in the crosses and after Patrick Bamford hit the crossbar, Llorente eventually got a deserved equaliser when he headed in with 3 minutes remaining.
There was little time and little energy for the reds to get their noses back ahead and a draw was the correct outcome from this game.
It represents a big dent in Liverpool's hopes for a top four qualification and the club remaining in sixth place.
