Leeds come back twice including a goal in the 96th minute in eventful 3-3 draw with Liverpool!

0:07Thanks for joining us on the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Saturday Night Football came from Ellen Road this week as Leeds took on Liverpool. Here's how we saw things at the end of the game.

0:27Leeds United will believe that anything is possible now. They've recovered so well from the heartbreak of losing at Manchester City after their comeback in that game. and in the space of just a few days have beaten Chelsea and now Tanaka who scored in that game has earned them a point against the champions. Lucas Perry and his colleagues celebrate because it looked so unpromising for them when Liverpool made a quick fire start to the second half with two goals in the opening five minutes from Hugo Eketike. However, Ibrahim Kanate gave Leeds a route back into it by conceding a penalty that Dominic Carver-Lewin converted.

1:10And so Liverpool's despair looked complete when Anton Stack then drew it level at 2-all. Still Leeds had another blow to ride when Dominic Suboslai put Liverpool 3-2 ahead. But from a corner, at the end, a Liverpool team that never looked particularly safe conceded again to Artanaka. Not the easiest of angles for him to convert it. but converted he did and Liverpool's opportunity Gary to get into the top five has been taken away from them Oh it absolutely has but firstly a word about Leeds United Manchester City away Chelsea at home Liverpool at home the week that was probably going to be cementing their place in the Championship next season and it's been the week of hope four points and nearly got a point at Manchester City last week and they've been fantastic in these last four days Tanaka happy but for Liverpool despair as you say inconsistent, you can't trust them, you're always thinking something's going to go wrong and they make mistake after mistake after mistake.

2:13Another setback then for the champions, another draw in the space of a week for them but what a week for Leeds. Leeds 3, Liverpool 3. And they'll be singing long into the night at Ellen Roads and around the city centre as well. Daniel Parker says, come on, let's get round the pitch and take this moment in because this is another special Leeds fight back in the second half. Stuart Dallas, did they deserve that point after, as you heard from Gary Neville, the difficulty of this week? Yeah, listen, Liverpool had a devastating start to the second half. 2-0 up and the game's dead and buried, isn't it?

2:49And, you know, a silly challenge gets Leeds back into it. But, yeah, they'll be delighted. Big week for them. Let's get some reaction from a couple of those Leeds stars then. we've got uh anton stack and uh and tanaka yes indeed with patrick davidson here we go ow ow what a week what an evening how special was that moment how special is this atmosphere for you yeah yeah of course you know this last two games we played at home but look at this like uh fantastic atmosphere. You know, we are losing but you know nobody never give up and then for me Willie and Brendan was changing the game and then of course we're not really but like we can get a point it's good.

3:40I don't know I promised you only one question but just tell us that moment when the net bulges it's 3-3 to complete a crazy game what was that like for you? Yeah, of course. This week we did an amazing game and we got a four point. It's good. But like we are still bottom. So we have to be better because so many concedes. So we have to go to the next game. Well done. I've got to let you go and find Anton. Where is he? Anton, what is this place like when it's like this? I think everybody's seen it today. Look now at the atmosphere. It's unbelievable. Exactly for these moments, I think we play football.

4:23I still have goosebumps. It's so great that today we took a point after such a performance. So at 2-0, do you still feel alive in the game? Or did it just take that moment, the penalty, to start this place back into life, and then the team comes with it? Yeah, 100%. I think before, of course it was tough. Liverpool, they have amazing quality on the ball, but we suffered a lot. And then the two goals after half-time were too late. But then I think it's a big strength for us now that we come back against Liverpool, against the champion of last year, and we take a point. Of course it was because of the atmosphere.

5:02After the penalty, I think everybody were in standing position and so loud. It's so much strange isn't it where the energy comes from, they go 2-0 up, you've had a really sort of big week with City and Chelsea and then all of a sudden in that moment you all find an extra yard, maybe the fragility of the run they've been on that kicks in as well and the game turns on its head. Yeah exactly I think. Of course you are tired, you are 2-0 down against such a good opponent but then you score a goal and then when the crowd is so loud in your head there's like a switch on and then you can run more and go on and go into the duels and everybody's with you.

5:42It's like, yeah, in your head it's the whole city and that's so great about the club. Lastly then, what will this week do for your season, competing with all three sides and taking four points across the three games? Yeah, I think it's great to take four points. I think against Man City we were a bit unlucky, but against such good sides, four points are great, but the most important is that we keep consistent We keep going like this, just fighting for every point. And that's the most important after recovery in our process. Thank you. Patrick, thank you very much. Anton Stakkenau, Tanaka. Two of the goal scorers for Leeds United this afternoon as they fought back twice to earn a point against, as he said, last season's champions in Liverpool.

6:31A water reception Daniel Farker got as he completed the lap of honour as well. and that really felt significant for him, a manager who's been under so much pressure in recent weeks. But they have saved their best of the season, it seems, to their toughest week of the season and not one single away victory on this Premier League weekend so far. What a victory for Aston Villa in the early kick-off against Arsenal. It came in injury time there as well to sink the leaders. Arsenal, Bournemouth goalless with Chelsea. Everton with their biggest win of the season and in their new stadium, 3-0 over Nottingham Forest.

7:05Manchester City have now scored three or more in five of their last six games. 3-0, they beat Sunderland today. You also had a man sent off late on in Luco 9. Newcastle getting past Burnley by two goals to one. Spurs will breathe a little easier and so will Thomas Frank after a victory against his former club, Brentford, by two goals. Denil Javi-Simmons with a goal and an assist for Spurs today in a much improved performance. and six goals in the second half. Most we've had in any second half so far this season after a goalless first half at Elland Road. Scan the QR code. It will take you straight to the Sky Sports app.

7:39You can see all of the weekend's goals and highlights so far with three more live games to come this weekend. Two on Super Sunday plus Wolves Man United on Monday nights.

7:53Arna Slott with Patrick Davison. Well, Arne, to let it slip like that, I guess it'll be hard to find the words, but what's the mood in that dressing room you just walked out of? Yeah, that is simple, that is what everyone can understand. It's not the first time we drop points, it's not the first time we concede the goal in the last minute, it's not the first time we concede the set-piece, so everyone can understand what the mood was in the dressing room. So why do you think, like you say, not the first time of any of those things, why did it happen again? I can only explain, I can explain every single time, but let's keep it to this game, 2-0 up.

8:36I don't think we've conceded till that moment any chance. And the penalty wasn't a chance as well for them, but we made it a chance because it led to a penalty, VAR intervention one more time. So 2-1, then maybe their first chance of the game led to the 2-2. We showed mentality to go 3-2 up. I think after that I felt we had control. Of course there's always the lone ball, second ball, lone ball, second ball, which you cannot always make sure that that doesn't happen. And then a set-piece comes in extra time, nine minutes of extra time. And they score. That is part of our season, but the only ones to blame are us.

9:21We concede these chances, we do so much to create. It's not easy for us to score a goal, though today we score three, if you score three goals in an away game. That should normally be enough to win a game of football, especially if you hardly concede a chance. No manager wants to stand in front of these boards and single out a player, but with that challenge that led to the penalty, Is it just self-inflicted? You invite them back into the match, you bring the crowd back into the game, and a match that looked really under control, suddenly it's chaos. Yeah, what you can say is that he tries to do everything to prevent the cross from coming.

10:02So if you want to call it a mistake, it's a mistake from hard work, from trying.

10:11There was contact, that's for sure. The player already was on his way going to the floor. But again, we should in that situation look at ourselves and not at the referee or the VL. Did we see at that point that the bad run that you've had has just left you really fragile the second something goes wrong, even though you did make it 3-2, the control you've had, the confidence seems to drain out of the team? No matter which situation you are as a team, if you're 2-0 up and you control the game completely and the fans were quiet, not constantly, but in general, I think we were where we wanted to be.

10:54If you then concede a goal going 2-1, they come back to the game with 2-1, then I think if you play in this stadium, the fans will always give it a go one more time with the players as well. And like I said, I don't think we've conceded afterwards a chance, but the first chance we did concede led to a shot from a difficult angle, I think, but went in, 2-2. And then we came back with mentality, with a great attack. So we have to do a lot of things well to score a goal. And 3-3 is as you saw. Tell us about some of the changes you made. The first double change, I guess at that point, they just switched formations and you're trying to lock down the match?

11:40No, I took Florian and the other one was Conor. That's both related to the amount of games they've played coming back from an injury. Conor has been out for a long, long time. And he had repetitive injuries on his hamstring.

11:59We always knew before this game he could play 60, so I pushed it towards 66, 67, I think. Flo has played so many minutes and we have to keep him fit. But I don't think it was about the ones I brought in. Were you close to using Mo Salah at all? Obviously the third game he started on the bench and in two of them now he hasn't come on. I might be wrong, I didn't see him really warm up during the second half. I think all the players go for a warm-up on a regular basis, but 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.

12:42And normally when you need a goal, like last week against Sunderland, I brought Mo in, today it felt to me that we needed We needed different players like Wata, I've brought him in many times, when we needed to bring the wing over the line. And he gave everything I think, what I could expect from him, and he was also not part in which I was conceding the 3-3. What happens with Mo, medium, short-term, Arne? It's just, it's hard to see a player of that stature and kind of knowing what's happened in the past when he's been left out of the team. It's hard to see him accepting a situation like this for too long.

13:21No, first, like I said before the game, we have to accept the situation we are in and I make my choices based on that. And the short-term future of Mo is that he goes in a week time to the African Cup of Nations. But before that, we play Inter and Brighton. Are you still absolutely sure you can fix this? Did you see enough today to think, you know, that great team that you took to the title last season, it's in there somewhere? If you want to base it on what we've seen today and what we've showed many times this season, then there's every reason to be very positive. But it's also not for the first time that when we show a lot of positive things, there's not a lot the other team needs to do to score a goal against us.

14:06And that is what we have to fix. But I don't think maybe we've played only two games that the other team created more chances than us. But yeah, that's not where it's about in football. It's about scoring goals, it's about results, it's about not conceding. But if you look at the way we play and the way the boys keep going, and when the disappointment is there after the 2-2, they come back to a 3-2. Was it after the 3-3 that Virgil had his header? I think so. So even again then the boys were trying it. So that tells me again, like I said earlier, there's a lot of positives to take from this game, but it gets harder and harder to address the positive if the results go against you so many times.

14:51Thank you, Arno. You're welcome. Thank you. Yeah, always honest, Arno Slott. Always answers the questions with as much detail as he possibly can. Just wonder, when he steps into Elan Rowe tonight, Stuart, you know, as someone who knows Leeds United so well, will Leeds have sensed that this Liverpool team is vulnerable right now? Yeah, they would have. I think it doesn't take a scientist to work that out, that they are vulnerable. But I think Liverpool have done really well in quieting the crowd from the beginning. Obviously, the first half, Leeds would have been happy going in at 0-0. In the second half, it's a devastating start, as I said before, for Liverpool.

15:27And at that point, they're in total control of the game. The atmosphere is dead, the stadium is flat. And then we all know what happens. Kanate, a rash challenge and all of a sudden Leeds are back in the game. The crowd's up, there's energy again within the stadium. And I know myself what it's like, how much I can spur you on as a player. So, yeah, listen, he's clearly frustrated there. He's honest, as always. He knows there's work to do for Liverpool to get back to the best. You have also been in the position when you're faced with a tricky winger, with a volatile crowd against you, the ball looks like it's going out of play.

16:02Arnazslaught sort of finds a defence in terms of he's trying to do everything he can to stop the cross. Yeah. What else would he be thinking about here? He doesn't need to. He doesn't need to. for me he can't go to the ground there but when he does he can slide and kind of block the cross without sort of going near Nanto Nanto's clever of course he is he sort of invites it a little bit but it's a reckless challenge it doesn't need to be made and you know I think it sums up sort of Kanate and how things are going for him at the minute decision making small moments and these change games and change the outcome of games these are details Jamie that we're talking about absolutely I mean just watch Nonto's left leg and he just clips it here with his right foot look what's there and then that sends his heel out and just to point out that that ball was still in play when that contact was made and that's the crucial thing in terms of it being a penalty absolutely and Stuart spot on the important thing you do they're all good defenders will just try their best to stay on their feet you know Nonto isn't going anywhere what's he really going to do there he put I don't I don't know why he's got his arm on his chest.

17:07But it was just so, it was just nonsense, the tackle. Because straight away, you get the other team back into it. I think Arnestlott said something. It was sort of an honest mistake. He's trying to do the right thing. But it's almost like when you try too hard sometimes, you make bigger mistakes, you compound it. He looks up straight away. He knows, doesn't he? Of course he knows. And he thought for a second he might have got away of it. But obviously with VAR, you have no chance. And it was rightly given as a penalty. It was a really silly mistake. A thumping finish from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

17:37Yeah, absolutely. He gets some power in that with his side foot, doesn't he? Gives Alisson no chance. Great penalty. And obviously Leeds are straight back in at the end. And as I said before, the crowd's up. Jamie, you were actually saying about Nanto. Yeah, well, he was scaring me, to be honest. Because every time he got the ball, I felt something would happen. And there was a little bit of fear in Liverpool. And then, obviously, then 2-2 comes. And it was a really good piece of play from Leeds. they work it really well and they get a little bit of confidence. And I think this is probably what the manager wants.

18:06You get your good players on the ball. You get Aronson on the ball. You can see Nonto's in here now. He's in that little play, a little one too, the two subs that come on. And just take that back just a second, if you don't mind. Just work that back a little bit because I feel here, this is where Liverpool get themselves in a mess. You can see that, I don't know if you can see that well enough, but Canate's got his mouth open. He's trying to explain to Gravenberch, just try it if you can, just to dip in front, just to protect it. but if you're not 100 % sure, all I think that Ibrahim Kanati has to do is just maybe go into engaged on stat.

18:38He doesn't. He decides to back off, which then gives this guy a lovely bit of space, and he's got quality. You can see that he's in. Obviously, Curtis Jones comes across. He tries a bit too hard. He makes that mistake. Really good play by Leeds, but you just see here how much space he gets. Look, it opens him up, and you can see he's trying to explain. Get in front. Try to block that pass, but you don't need to. You can see Virgil van Dijk's got Dominic Calvert-Lewin. You can see Curtis Jones is here. If he comes and just matches him up two for two, I don't see that problem. Do you, Stuart? No, and I think you're right.

19:09Obviously, Kanate, you can see Kanate comes in. He should come in here. And when he comes in there, Jones can just step in till he'll be alongside van Dijk and make it a centre-back there. I think Jones as well is too easy to allow Stack to come inside. And again, it's an avoidable goal. It's a good piece of play from Leeds. Brendan obviously coming on. the subs combining him and Nanto and obviously Leeds are back in it though. Yep, and we know what happened after that. So that was 2-2. Let's rewind because that was two goals in 2 minutes 45 but the start of the second half Liverpool actually scored two goals in 2 minutes 10 seconds and these are the positives that Arna Slott is referring to that this side that he picked today with Eketike instead of Alexander Isaac are capable of scoring goals.

19:55Yeah, absolutely. Because we didn't know what he was going to do in terms of picking his best team today. And he went with Eketike ahead of Isak. Not a great moment for Joe Rogan. No, Joe Rogan makes a mistake. He's not this one. He just gives it away. And those wet conditions, the ball moves and it just slides to him. But once he gets in this position, Hugo Eketike, you know there's only going to be one outcome. It's a fantastic finish. He reverses that into the corner. It's such class. I think that's exactly what he does. Again here, he's brilliant. He shows that pace. He wants a penalty there, doesn't he?

20:22Yeah, I don't think it is. But this actually has a consequence now because you can see, Bivol is now coming out to try and get into this area now and Ekotike then comes alive. Connor Bradley does ever so well and then he gets into an area where he's free and gets a little bit of luck with the finish. It does yeah, it was hard to see with the finish and we see there the ball's almost gone out but it stays in and that it ends up sort of killing Leeds in the end because Ekotike is on on the ground and Leeds push up and he's left and it's a sloppy goal again from Leeds, they give it away Bradley does so well but you see here I think it's it's close to being offside we can see here there's not much in it just fingers crossed that he was off but yeah just onside and then whenever you see the goalkeeper as well it's like as Jamie says he gets a bit of luck with a goal because you can't really see it clearly we'll see another angle in a minute where it actually goes past Etetike and it hits the goalkeeper in the arm and comes back and hits him on the knee and goes in so gets a bit of luck and at that point the game's done for me Leeds don't look like threatening Liverpool look comfortable You think the goalkeeper should be doing what there?

21:28I think it's difficult because obviously Akatika is sliding in there's kind of no protection for the goalkeeper is there but it's easy to analyse it and say maybe she'll get a stronger hand on it I think back to the game against Nottingham Forest earlier on in the season same kind of thing where he palms it doesn't get enough on it but Akatika is in there he's doing what all good strikers do he's trying to affect it and gets a bit of luck but who cares it's another goal and Liverpool are 2-0 up. It's an interesting one now, Dave, because obviously he's gone with Hugo today. Isak, you have to obviously manage his minutes, but there's no doubt at all he hasn't found a level that we all thought he would as quickly as he had.

22:05He missed the pre-season. It's had a massive impact in his football and his fitness. And Hugo started the season great. He came in scoring goals, full of confidence. It was a Southampton game, it was obviously a pivotal moment because he scores, gets sent off, that doesn't start against Crystal Palace and Alexander Isak started to come into the game and it affected him. It affected his confidence but he wasn't the starting player. But right now, I think, if you are picking your best team purely on performances, not that one's 120 million, I can't remember what Eketike was, 70 odd. You're picking your best team and Hugo Eketike is your number nine.

22:41That's the honest opinion because he is doing more, he's adding more in terms of his movement, he's running behind, he looks quicker, he looks sharper, He looks like he's always going to be a goal threat. So I think that I wouldn't be surprised now. And it's a difficult decision. I'm not saying this is going to be the long-term one, because when you've got two such great strikers, it's hard. But I think he's got five in his last, five in nine starts in the Premier League. And I think if he'd have been starting all those other games and not had that spell on the bench and maybe Isak getting his head more often than not, I think we'd have seen a lot more.

23:11He's looked very sharp. I'm not sure it's a problem that Leeds would see as a problem. but if you've got an Eketike and an Izak plus a Mo Salah who didn't come off the bench today, can you have too many top strikers in your squad? There's almost that problem. I think it goes back to the summer and did they really need to sign both players? You know, everybody has their arguments whether they did or they didn't. But Jamie's right. Hugo Eketike is producing. So for me, he's got to play as well. If you're producing and you're scoring, yeah, for me, he's got to play. They've got to find a solution for this Mo Salah issue.

23:48It is becoming an issue now, isn't it, Jamie? Because the guy is such an icon. He's such a legend amongst Liverpool fans. Yeah. An icon in the Premier League full stop. But to be sitting on the bench with a face like thunder and not even getting on in a game they haven't won today. Yeah, well, I understand the face like thunder. He wants to play. He's an iconic footballer, you know, Premier League great. And he's probably thinking, why am I not starting? The facts are his form hasn't been good enough. Now, I don't foresee a situation where Liverpool, because I think they would have so much respect for him that they'd be actively trying to move him.

24:20I think if he were to happen, it's accelerated really quickly, and if something were to happen as quickly as January, it will come more from him. Could that happen with the African Cup of Nations, though, going on? Because he's going to disappear after that tournament. He's going to go away, I think, next week, is it after? A week on Monday. A week on Monday. Anything can happen in football. If he really decides and he speaks to his agent and they go, look, it's not sustainable, I don't want to... Do you think that would be the best solution for everybody then? I don't necessarily think in January.

24:46I think we've got to just let this settle. But I don't foresee that he'll see out his two years of his contract. I think it might be more in the summer if he were to go. Sorry, I actually have a bit of sympathy for him as well. Because as players, we build relationships with other players on the pitch. And, you know, he was so used to playing and being successful with Trent playing behind him. This season, he's had a number of right backs playing. He's got Conor Bradley, Fringpong, Sabaslay, Curtis Jones, Gomez playing. There's five players. So it's hard for him to... A big part of his game was Trent.