Liverpool cannot keep relying on Mohamed Salah – their forwards need to step up

From feast to famine. From a historic thrashing of their arch-rivals to firing blanks.

Rather than pile the misery on a depleted and wounded Manchester United, Liverpool let them off the hook at Anfield on a day of immense frustration that saw Jurgen Klopp’s side drop points on home turf for the first time this season.

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Liverpool’s tally of 34 shots was their most on record in a Premier League fixture without scoring. Eight of them were on target – remarkably, the same number they managed in March’s 7-0 demolition job of United.

Yet, this time, a clinical edge was conspicuous by its absence. Liverpool paid the price for being wasteful as their dominance went unrewarded and they squandered the opportunity to reclaim top spot from Arsenal.

“We have to make sure we don’t make any negatives out of it,” Klopp insisted. “We are exactly where we belong because of the performances we had. Now we’re in a situation where you’re really disappointed when you draw against United. That’s a bit strange, but that’s how it is.”

A sense of perspective is certainly important. Liverpool are one point off the summit and they will almost certainly be top at Christmas if they beat Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday. Get past West Ham on Wednesday and they will also be one step away from a cup final trip to Wembley, while progress has been secured into the Europa League last 16, too.

Considering the rebuilding job Klopp oversaw last summer and the injury issues that have hampered them since August, they have exceeded expectations.

However, it would be wrong to simply dismiss Sunday’s stalemate as a one-off. The gutsy late fightbacks, the goals from unlikely sources and the record-breaking heroics of Mohamed Salah have masked the fact that Liverpool’s attack hasn’t been firing.

You have to go back to the 3-0 home win over Brentford five weeks ago for the last time one of the forwards other than Salah scored in the Premier League. Diogo Jota netted that day and despite missing the last six matches with a hamstring injury, he is still Liverpool’s second top scorer this season with eight in all competitions. The Portugal international has been sorely missed.

Darwin Nunez never looked like ending a goal drought that now stands at 10 appearances. There was little space for him to exploit in behind given how deep United defended and his irritation grew. He only had eight touches of the ball in the first half as he remained on the periphery.

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The Uruguayan’s work ethic couldn’t be questioned and Klopp was delighted with how he set the tone in terms of his pressing, especially early on.

However, if Liverpool are going to maintain a title challenge, they need Nunez to make more of an impact in the final third. Four league goals approaching the campaign’s halfway point is a meagre return considering the positions he gets into and the havoc he’s capable of wreaking.

The same goes for Luis Diaz, whose only goal in his last eight matches was against minnows LASK in the Europa League. The Colombian boasts just three in the top flight this term and five overall. There are so many moments of genuine promise when he cuts in off the left but so little end product. Diaz failed to win his battle with Diogo Dalot and, like Nunez, he was replaced.

When Liverpool were crying out for some inspiration in the second half, Klopp turned to Cody Gakpo, but he looked like a man who was too desperate to make an impact. There was no composure as he snatched at the chances that came his way. A free header late on was badly misplaced.

Gakpo, 24, only has two goals in his last 10 games and they were both against LASK. He hasn’t scored in the Premier League since September.

Just under half of Liverpool’s 34 attempts on goal were from outside the box and too frequently that smacked of desperation. Decision-making repeatedly let them down as the wrong option was taken. Overlaps were ignored.

“One or two times we were a bit unlucky and in other moments we were not calm enough, a bit too much in a rush,” Klopp said. “When you have this number of shots, you should have a few more on target. If we had scored it would have changed everything because they were obviously not here to lose.”

Diaz, Nunez and Gakpo had nine shots between them but not one tested Andre Onana.

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Salah, so often the scourge of United, was well shackled for the most part and won just two of his eight duels (25 per cent). The Egyptian, who still mustered half of Liverpool’s attempts on target, needs others in that frontline to step up and ease the burden on him.

Performances in general have been patchy in recent weeks, with a lack of control in midfield also an issue. After making such an eye-catching start to life at Anfield, Dominik Szoboszlai is enduring a difficult spell. He lost possession a dozen times in the first half alone.

With Ryan Gravenberch limping off with a hamstring issue and Alexis Mac Allister still absent, Liverpool are heavily reliant on Szoboszlai clicking back into gear.

But for Trent Alexander-Arnold’s last-ditch tackle on Alejandro Garnacho and Alisson’s excellent save from Rasmus Hojlund, the outcome could have been worse for Liverpool. United still haven’t scored at Anfield since 2018, but it all got very ragged in the final quarter. The change of system when Klopp rang the changes didn’t help the hosts as suddenly there were gaps for United to exploit on the counter.

Boosted by the partial opening of the new upper tier of the Anfield Road Stand, the crowd of 57,158 was the highest attendance at the stadium since the FA Cup tie with Burnley in 1963 (57,906), but the occasion and atmosphere fell decidedly flat.

United celebrated the point they came for as Liverpool were left to rue their profligacy. Nunez, Diaz and Gakpo aren’t delivering what they’re capable of and this time, there were no goals from elsewhere to bail them out.

(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)