(Credit: Manh Tung, Breaking Media, Imago)

Jack Dawson

Thu 1 January 2026 22:11, UK

Liverpool once again failed to impress the Anfield faithful as they were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw against Leeds United.

It was an awful showing from Arne Slot’s side, whose three-match winning run in the Premier League came to an end.

While Liverpool did not exactly impress during their 2-1 victory over Wolves last weekend, at least three points were delivered.

Yet, the Reds could not even achieve this on Thursday as they struggled against a side fighting relegation near the bottom of the table.

However, many players were simply terrible at Anfield on New Year’s Day, including Florian Wirtz.

Liverpool fans slam Florian Wirtz after draw with Leeds

Wirtz had shown promising signs at Liverpool in recent weeks.

The German international was great against both Tottenham and Wolves, with Wirtz netting against the latter side.

However, all of this ability appeared to disappear on Thursday as Slot’s side struggled to break down the Peacocks.

As a result, Wirtz was brought off just after the hour mark in what was a disappointing display.

Liverpool fans were also far from amused and were quick to criticise his performance on X when asked about his displauy against Leeds.

Abysmal

— K-Bound (@knxly) January 1, 2026

Horrendous

— Padraig hogan (@padraighogan1) January 1, 2026

Terrible!

— DC-x-MARVEL DC-x-MARVEL (@DCxMARVELD57009) January 1, 2026

Ghost

— Tumelo (@V3NSON1) January 1, 2026

However, many were quick to blame Slot for the result and his handling of Wirtz since his arrival in the summer as he continues to put in poor displays.

Stop scapegoating one player all of them were shite by frimpong if we are honest but it can’t be all of them have gone awful over night so it’s the manager

— Dan (@DDannQ1) January 1, 2026

Slotball is killing him. Under Klopp, Wirtz would have been prime Coutinho by now.

— Yuta Yudistira (@yuta_adi) January 1, 2026

Imagine playing him lw against a low block absolute scandalous

— Owen Wing (@Owenwing27) January 1, 2026

How bad was Wirtz against Leeds?

According to Fotmob on 1 January, the attacking midfielder was dreadful against Leeds.

The 22-year-old had four shots, with only one finding the target and failed to complete a single dribble.

On top of this, his passing accuracy was only 80 per cent. However, he did manage to create two chances from this.

Now, Slot may need to consider dropping Wirtz, with consistency becoming a real issue for the German international.

Qualification for the Champions League now has to be Liverpool’s aim, and as it stands, this is under serious threat.

Hopefully, 2026 will be more fruitful for Wirtz, or the attacking midfielder could end up being an expensive flop at Anfield.