Liverpool v Leeds preview: Can United stop the rot at Anfield?

Liverpool fans just never know which version of their side they’ll get on gameday, after a majorly disappointing 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest last time out in the Premier League, was followed up by a resounding 3-0 win over Ajax in midweek European action which guaranteed the Reds a place in the Champions League knockouts. That loss to Forest was Liverpool’s third this league campaign, already more than they had suffered all of last season (two), leaving them way off the top-four pace at the moment.

But the mood changes when Anfield gets involved, with the Reds currently riding a 29-game undefeated streak in home Premier League matches (W22, D7), accumulating a mammoth +57 goal difference in that time. Welcoming Leeds United through the Shankly Gates will also spark the Kop’s interest, having watched their side go undefeated in the last 12 head-to-heads (W9, D3).

A wounded Leeds make the trip to the North West off the back of an eight-game winless run after a 3-2 loss to Fulham last round (D2, L6), in what is their joint-longest winless streak in the top-flight since a run of ten ending in August 1997. Their slow decline down the table has landed them in the relegation zone, as no other Premier League side has currently gone as long without a win.

Four of those recent losses have come on the road for the Whites, keeping them winless in their five away matches this season (D1). They last lost five successive away Premier League matches back in March 2003, where their fifth loss was a 3-1 defeat at the hands of none other than Liverpool.

Players to watch:

Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk (31) has won all three matches he’s played against Leeds, scoring twice and keeping two clean sheets, and he also holds the record for the most Premier League home games played for a single club without ever losing with 70 (W59, D11). Leeds’ Jack Harrison (25) has a goal at Anfield to his name, and he’ll look for another to add to six of his last eight goals being scored away from home.

Hot stat:

There’s been nine goals scored between minutes 46-60 in Liverpool’s last ten games.