It needed something extraordinary to outdo the six-goal thriller at Elland Road but Mohamed Salah‘s (£14.0m) post-match interview pretty much did it.
That’s where we start, as we look back on Leeds United 3-3 Liverpool.
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SALAH “THROWN UNDER A BUS”
Will Gameweek 16 be Salah’s last match in a Liverpool shirt? If he even gets onto the field, that is…
It seems a sensationalist thing to say but with the Reds’ legend departing for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after that, and only returning when the January transfer window is back open, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
The backdrop: Salah was benched for the third successive Gameweek on Saturday evening, failing to even get on the field. Arne Slot has preferred the off-the-ball attributes of Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m) on the right wing in recent games and, on Saturday, even Conor Bradley (£5.0m) was ahead of the Hungarian in terms of average position:
In fairness to the Liverpool boss, his side were twice ahead at Elland Road – so those situations of protecting a lead are maybe not Salah’s strong suit.
That was Slot’s argument.
“We were 2-0 up. We were 3-2 up. I think it was at that moment of time, more about controlling the game and we didn’t need a goal at that moment of time and normally when you need a goal like last week against Sunderland, I’ve brought Mo in. Today, it felt to me that we needed different players like Wata [Endo].” – Arne Slot on why he didn’t use Mohamed Salah
But then, more drama. Salah entered the mixed zone and had his say in front of the media.
Below is a snippet, with Bennerman posting the full quotes here.
“The third time on the bench, I think it’s the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed, to be fair. I have done so much for this club, everybody can see that, during the years and especially last season.
“I’m sitting on the bench, I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That’s how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.
“I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.
“I will be in Anfield [in Gameweek 16] to say goodbye to the fans and go to the Africa Cup of Nations. I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there.” – Mohamed Salah
Cooler heads may prevail by next weekend. Slot is also the bookies’ favourite to get the chop next; could he be off, rather than Salah? If it is the end for the Egypt international, this would trump Joao Cancelo’s fall from once-essential FPL pick to outgoing outcast.
LIVERPOOL’S DEFENCE IMPLODES AGAIN
Liverpool looked to be heading for a low-key victory at Leeds, leading 2-0 at the 70-minute mark. The hosts hadn’t carved out much; the Statsbomb xG was 0.47-1.49 at that point.
Then, a moment of madness from Ibrahima Konate (£5.4m) – not for the first time this season – prompted a collapse. A needless foul in the box from the Frenchman gave Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.5m) the chance to reduce the arrears from the spot, with Anton Stach (£4.8m) drawing the Whites level soon after.
Even after Szoboszlai put Liverpool up 3-2, the visitors found time to allow Ao Tanaka (£4.8m) to poke in from a corner.
Set-piece goal concessions are becoming a real problem:
Liverpool have conceded the joint-most goals from set pieces in the Premier League 😩
Almost HALF the goals they've shipped have come from dead balls (42%) 🫣 pic.twitter.com/zX6x1MQPbD
— LiveScore (@livescore) December 6, 2025
From scarcely troubled to 3-3. Slot summed it up in one sentence:
“There’s not a lot the other team needs to do to score a goal against us.” – Arne Slot
In consolation corner, Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) banked defensive contribution (DefCon) points again. He was the only player to do so at Elland Road this weekend. He’d also gone close with two set-piece attempts of his own.
It’s Brighton next for the Reds. Where once owners of Danny Welbeck (£6.6m) and Yankuba Minteh (£6.3m) would be thinking of benching their Albion assets for a daunting trip to Anfield, now you’d have few reservations about starting them.
Bradley will be suspended for that match after picking up his fifth booking of the season.
EKITIKE LAYS DOWN MARKER TO ISAK
Further forward, there was a bit more to cheer.
Szoboszlai was, as he has been all season, very good. He finally converted a strong performance into FPL points for Liverpool’s well-taken third goal, netting his first open-play strike of 2025/26. He carved out a match-best four chances for others, too.
Hugo Ekitike (£8.4m) bagged a brace, meanwhile, capitalising on two Leeds errors. The Frenchman finished on a game-high five shots.
All that does is cool whatever tepid interest there may have been in Alexander Isak (£10.4m), following the Swede’s three successive league starts and Gameweek 13 goal. Ekitike may now be in line to continue in Gameweek 16, depending on what happens in Milan on Tuesday. Regardless, the packed winter schedule will likely see starts divided between the two.
THE LEEDS REVIVAL CONTINUES
While they were given a helping hand by Liverpool, Leeds’ revival continues. They very nearly emerged unbeaten from a week that could have sealed Daniel Farke’s fate, with only a late Manchester City goal costing them a point at the Etihad.
Encouragingly, they scored eight goals against City, Chelsea and Liverpool in Gameweeks 13-15.
Calvert-Lewin now has three goals in as many matches, and has posted some decent numbers in that time:
Stach, incidentally, is benefitting from Sean Longstaff‘s (£4.9m) absence. Not only is there one less positional rival but he’s now back on corners, which he had lost to Longstaff in the autumn. He’s supplied seven chances in the last two Gameweeks.
Farke stuck with the 3-5-2 that worked well in the last two games, with midfielder Noah Okafor (£5.5m) joining Calvert-Lewin up top. He abandoned that formation at 2-0 down, however, so it’ll be interesting to see what he does at Brentford next weekend.
