That result left the defending Premier League champions sitting ninth in the table, following a 1-1 draw with Sunderland in midweek.

There have been growing frustrations inside the camp. Mohamed Salah has revealed his anger after the Leeds match and said the club had "thrown me under a bus", underlining the tense mood around the team.

Head coach Arne Slot will have hoped for a strong response from his players with the busy festive period approaching. There was some positive news in defence, with Conor Bradley returning to the starting line-up at right-back against Leeds, giving Liverpool a natural option in that role again after weeks of makeshift solutions.

With a Champions League trip to Inter Milan coming up, followed by a Premier League clash against Brighton, Liverpool have been closely monitoring the fitness of two defenders.

Frimpong Edges Closer to Comeback

Jeremie Frimpong has been a major miss, especially during Bradley's absence. Joe Gomez had been used out of position at right-back before Bradley's return.

Frimpong, who joined in the summer from Bayer Leverkusen, suffered a hamstring setback during the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in October. Slot said the Dutch defender would be out "just as long" as Bradley, suggesting a similar recovery timeline.

Slot later confirmed that he had been hopeful Frimpong would return to first-team training this week. There is now growing optimism that he could be available again soon, possibly in time for the Brighton match at the weekend.

Leoni Faces Long Road Back

Giovanni Leoni's time in England has started in heartbreaking fashion. The young Italian defender tore his ACL on his Anfield debut in the Carabao Cup against Southampton in September and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Slot spoke openly about the impact of the injury and said: "He is not in a good place, of course, because he tore his ACL and it means he will be out for a year. Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game, it's very hard to take the positive side.

"There's never a positive side, but you always try to look at a positive side and that is that he is still so young, so he has so many years still to go after he recovers from a terrible injury like that."

Expected return date: late 2026

Liverpool are due to face Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday before hosting Brighton at Anfield on 13 December.

Steve Barker in awe of current Stellenbosch squad