Arne Slot has told his Liverpool players they must commit more bodies in the box after drawing 0-0 at home to Leeds United
Arne Slot crouches as he looks on from the touchline during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Leeds United at Anfield on January 01, 2026(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Arne Slot has admitted he wants to see his Liverpool side get more bodies in the box from crossing situations after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Leeds United on New Year’s Day.
The reigning Premier League champions had 19 shots on goal against the Whites but only four were on target as they were left frustrated at Anfield.
The draw saw Liverpool extend their unbeaten run to eight games. But once again, the Reds found it hard work to break down their opponent’s defence.
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OPINION
Ian Doyle
And having seen them fail to break the deadlock against Leeds, Slot revealed he had told his players at half-time that Liverpool needed to get more bodies in the box.
“A goal, that is the most simple answer (about what was missing),” he said. “And to score a goal against a team that is defending so well in and around the box, there are a few ways to unlock it.
“That is for a lot of teams in this league it’s a set piece. We were close with Virgil (van Dijk). We got eight but unfortunately we didn’t score.
“Another way of unlocking it is something we saw last week against Wolves when Jeremie Frimpong had his moment of magic, a quick one vs one where he brought the ball in, and I think he had a few of those today as well.
“If you look at the more bigger picture, you forget the one vs ones, I said to them at half-time that we can bring more bodies in the box in moments than we did in the first half when we did cross.
“It would have been nice if there had been more bodies in their box from us. But a lot of ball possession, we are the team that has most ball possession in the league this year but ball possession means not a lot if you cannot create enough chances.
“And to create chances against a low block, you need pace, individual special moments to create an overload.
“You don’t see a lot of 15-20 passes goals against low blocks. And another way is to create a counter attack or winning the ball high up the pitch when they want to bring the ball out from the back.
“But I don’t think… if I simply look at the second half I think their goalkeeper kicked every ball long.
“Then when you win it, there are 11 players in front of you. Everyone including me wants us to go forward as fast as possible but when there are 11 players standing in front of you in and around their box, it is not so easy to find players who are free close enough to the goal.
“That’s why it was another time, not for the first time this season, we saw a team that kept trying but it was hard for us to find an opening.”