Liverpool’s first game of 2026 comes at home to Leeds on New Year’s Day, with both sides unbeaten in at least their last five matches.

Liverpool vs. Leeds

Premier League (19) | Anfield
January 1, 5.30pm (GMT)

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The Reds ended 2025 with a 2-1 win against Wolves at Anfield, putting them fourth in the Premier League table.

Next up is the New Year’s Day visit of Leedswhich should be seen as another good chance of three points for Liverpool.

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Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game as the Premier League season reaches its midway point.

1. The start of a memorable 2026 for Liverpool?

The new year always brings reason for optimism, with Liverpool fans optimistically dreaming of trophies coming their way in 2026.

Granted, this has been a disappointing season to date, but this is still a good squad capable of going far in cup competitions.

The Premier League title feels highly unlikely, but victory at home to Leeds would keep up Liverpool’s recent momentum and put the Reds five clear of fifth-place Chelsea.

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Champions League glory in Budapest in May has to be the aim!

2. Leeds on a good run of their own

Liverpool may not have suffered defeat in seven matches, but Leeds are also in a good place.

Daniel Farke’s side are unbeaten in their last five Premier League outings, including the 3-3 draw with the Reds at Elland Road in early December.

A 4-1 thumping of Crystal Palace was Leeds‘ most impressive result on this current run; they are 15th in the table, seven points clear of the relegation zone.

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Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored in each of the last six matches, netting seven times, so he will be a threat to Liverpool’s defence.

3. Liverpool team news

Thankfully, no new injuries emerged for Liverpool against Wolvesbut there are still a number of absentees.

Alexander Isak likely won’t be back until the spring, joining Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni, Wataru Endo and Jayden Dance on the sidelines.

Dominik Szoboszlai is back after serving a one-game suspension, but Ibrahima Konate is a yellow card away from being banned for Sunday’s trip to Fulham.

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Mohamed Salah is at the Africa Cup of Nations and was rested for Egypt’s dead rubber group stage clash with Angola on Tuesday.

4. Potential Liverpool starting XI

There is no need for Arne Slot to make multiple changes against Leedsthough it will be interesting to see how he fits Szoboszlai back into the team.

The most likely scenario is that the the Hungarian comes in for Federico Chiesa on the right.

Jeremie Frimpong assisted in the win over Wolves and could start, while Andy Robertson will hope to replace Milos Kerkez who has played four lots of 90 minutes in a row.

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Predicted Liverpool XI:Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Jones; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Wirtz; Ekiti

5. How could Leeds line up?

Joe Rodon is Leeds‘ most high-profile injury victim, with the centre-back limping off in Sunday’s 1-1 draw away to Sunderland. Sean Longstaff and Dan James are also missing for the visitors.

Otherwise, Farke has a healthy squad to choose from, with Calvert-Lewin expected to lead the line, having already scored against Liverpool this season.

Noah Okafor could start up front alongside him, while Ethan Ampadu and Anton Stach are a key midfield pair.

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Possible Leeds XI:Perri; Bogle, Struijk, Bijol, Justin, Gudmundsson; Stach, Aaronson, Ampadu; Okafor, Calvert-Lewin

6. Arne Slot says Florian Wirtz needed “a bit of time to adapt”

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Speaking to the media, Slot discussed Florian Wirtz and the demands of adjusting to life in a new country:

“It’s different – your life is a bit upside down, and that, for a manager, is not the biggest problem because I don’t have to perform on the pitch.

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“But I can fully understand that some individuals need a bit of time to adapt off the pitch as well. The biggest adaptation if you come from abroad is this league and how intense it is.

“Today (after the win over Wolves), and even if you play once a week, you could see that Hugo (Ekitike) had a cramp after 70 or 75 minutes.

“And I didn’t take Florian out because he played badly, I took him out because he was hardly able to keep on running any .

“That tells you about the new players we have brought in and how big a step it is to adjust to these intensity levels.”

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7. Leeds’ recent record at Anfield

Leeds‘ last trip to Liverpool was a memorable one for the travelling fans in October 2022, with Crysencio Summerville’s late strike sealing a 2-1 win.

Incredibly, it was Virgil van Dijk‘s first-ever home league defeat for the Reds in front of fans, after almost five years and 70 games in the competition!

Liverpool won the previous five Anfield clashes, however, including a 6-0 hammering back in February 2022.

In fact, Leeds‘ last victory there, before the Summerville-inspired win, came way back in 2001 when Rio Ferdinand and Lee Bowyer scored.

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8. Did you know?

If Alisson keeps a clean sheet, he will become only the fifth Liverpool goalkeeper in history to keep 100 in the league.

Ray Clemence, Bruce Grobbelaar, Pepe Reina and Elisha Scott are the others to have reached that milestone. What an incredible servant Alisson has been for Liverpool!

9. Chris Kavanagh takes charge

Chris Kavanagh will referee the New Year’s Day action – his first Liverpool game since the 3-0 defeat at Man City in November.

Dan Cook and Blake Antrobus are his assistants at Anfield, while Anthony Taylor is the fourth official.

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Darren England is the VAR and assisted by Wade Smith.

10. TV – Live on Sky Sports

Liverpool vs. Leeds is live on Sky Sports Main Event from 5pm (GMT), with kick-off at 5.30pm.

Henry Jacksonis in the chair forThis Is Anfield‘s matchday live blog, trying to be as fresh as possible after New Year’s Eve!

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Come on you Reds!