Leeds United 1-1 Liverpool: Diego Llorente’s late goal earns hosts a point after Sadio Mane had put Premier League champions ahead

A late equaliser from Diego Llorente earned Leeds United a draw against Premier League champions Liverpool on Monday night.

European Super League scandal

The game was overshadowed by the announcement of the ‘European Super League’, which Liverpool have stated that they would be a part of.

In the lead up to the game, both Leeds and Liverpool fans booed the Reds team bus as it entered Elland Road.

Elsewhere, during the warm-ups, Leeds players wore T-shirts protesting Liverpool’s – as well as Europe’s other elite clubs’ – involvement in the competition.

The Reds, however, chose to ignore all the media attention and decided to get on with the game on the pitch by the scoring the opening goal.

Back to the action at Elland Road

Diogo Jota played a diagonal ball for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had made a brilliant run. Bizarrely, Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier ran off his line and tried to intercept the pass. Instead, he completely missed the ball and that meant that the right back could simply square the ball for Sadio Mane who scored into an empty net on 31 minutes.

Leeds were clearly the better team in the second half as they chased an equaliser. They had multiple clear-cut chances including a Patrick Bamford effort which smashed off the crossbar. Jack Harrison and Tyler Roberts also had big opportunities saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Leeds persistence did pay off as they did eventually get an equaliser three minutes from time. A corner from Harrison found the head of Llorente, who leaped highest to beat both Ozan Kabak and Roberto Firmino to score his first goal for the club.

It was another game in which Marcelo Bielsa’s impressive side took points off one of the traditional ‘Big Six’ clubs – including a 2-1 triumph at Manchester City the game beforehand.

On paper, and considering where they are in the table, a 1-1 draw would seem a disappointing result for Liverpool – especially considering their aspirations of finishing in the top four and to achieve a Champions League qualification spot. 

However, it is clear to see that their aspirations are away from Europe’s elite competition that they have won six times. The same can be said for the Premier League, which they won for the first time in their history last season and were crowned champions of England for the first time in 30 years, all but making this season meaningless. 

By Barnaby Page