Arne Slot has exposed another problem for Liverpool after fixing the leak

Those around the country nursing hangovers after seeing 2025 out in style might have wondered if Liverpool had also spent New Year’s Eve with a night on the tiles.

The Premier League champions were also slow, lethargic and lacking creativity as Leeds, for the second time in the last month, registered a point against them.

This one was much less entertaining than the 3-3 reverse and many around the country may have drifted off to sleep this time rather than the box-office, edge-of-the-seat thriller at Elland Road.

And that is the problem with Liverpool and Arne Slot right now. It is all a bit boring.

One positive we can note is that they would have gone on to lose this match a month or so ago, when they won just four of 15 games in a torrid run through autumn.

They have ‘stopped the bleeding’ to reference a quote from Steven Gerrard about them last month and we must admit they are much tighter defensively. Gone are the days of shipping goals for fun against PSV Eindhoven and Nottingham Forest, 4-1 and 3-0 defeats.

Yet in doing so, Slot has just exposed a problem elsewhere. He has fixed the leak but diverted the issue elsewhere.

The head coach was never in threat of losing his job and retained internal backing during that shoddy run but a significant number of fans turned against him during that but this result – and display – will have done nothing to assuage the critics’ thoughts.

Liverpool are eight matches unbeaten but performances have still been nowhere near the level required for a team that spent £450million in the summer and are reigning champions. It has been a sorry title defence.

They edged past Wolves, one of the worst teams in recent memory, and were not anywhere near their best level in games against Sunderland, Leeds (twice), Tottenham and West Ham. It is a bizarre run.

In the next seven days are trips to in-form Fulham plus league leaders Arsenal and both sides will be watching Liverpool knowing it is a good time to play them regardless of their unbeaten run.

Where is the excitement that made the Reds fun to watch last year? Where is the energy and never-say-die attitude that saw them claw wins when not at their best? Where is the free-spirit style that made you think they could beat any team?

It is all missing and Slot must find that balance between keeping them defensively solid while also maintaining Liverpool as an all-action attacking unit.

Anfield is often criticised by away fans for being silent for long periods of matches but there is simply nothing to get bums off seats right now.

Salah is missed

There were no box-office quotes in the media area after the game this time and that was because Mohamed Salah was not there, like he was when these sides met at Elland Road in December.

You will remember the Egyptian sent the news cycle whirring by saying the club had thrown him ‘under the bus’ and he was subsequently dropped from the squad before jetting off to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

There is no hiding, though, that he is sorely missed.

Yes, the 33-year-old has been far from his best this season at club level. But even during bad patches, Salah can still win games at the click of a finger.

Liverpool seem to lack players who can do that right now, save for in-form striker Hugo Ekitike. Others, like Cody Gakpo, seem to be bereft of ideas.

Salah is next in action for Egypt against Benin on Monday in the last 16 of AFCON and Liverpool fans may secretly be hoping for a Pharaohs exit because they could do with the main man back soon.

Ngumoha needs more minutes

Rio Ngumoha only played 12 minutes but he did enough to prove that he deserves more minutes in the first team.

The 17-year-old scored the winning goal away at Newcastle earlier in the season but has barely been seen since in the Premier League with four cameos of three, six, 20 and 12 minutes before this fixture.

But he did something that few others managed during the match and that is making Leeds defenders nervous. When Ngumoha ran at them, they looked agitated and panicked due to his unorthodox style.

For most of the game, those away players looked calm and composed.

Fellow substitute Federico Chiesa also ran at the defenders and forced them into tricky positions. While it led to little, it asked questions of them – which is something that did not happen much beforehand.

Ngumoha is in an awkward position where he is needed to make up the numbers on the Liverpool bench so does not play for the youth teams – but barely plays. He will be learning a lot from being around the first team every day but he is hardly kicking a ball.

Maybe that should change.