Liverpool missed out on the chance to go fourth in the Premier League on Monday night, playing to a 1-1 draw with Leeds at Elland Road.
Victory would have seen coach Jurgen Klopp’s Reds leapfrog West Ham in fourth place, instead they remained in sixth place – two points behind the Hammers.
Sadio Mane fired Liverpool ahead in the 31st minute when he steered the ball into an empty net from 15 metres after Trent Alexander-Arnold beat Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier to a long Diogo Jota pass and squared it to the Senegalese forward.
Roberto Firmino came close to adding a second shortly after the break but Leeds then pegged back the visitors and missed several chances before Diego Llorente rose above his markers to head home a Jack Harrison corner three minutes from time.
Substitute Mo Salah had scuffed a close-range shot wide for the Reds just before Llorente scored and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain spurned a gilt-edged chance to snatch a stoppage-time winner.
Klopp says of the draw: “It is disappointing of course but we cannot say it was not deserved for Leeds. We had big chances in the first half but didn’t use those.
“We will fight for the Champions League with all we have. This a point more in the end. It is always best to win all the games but if not we have to shake a bit and go again and that is what we will do.”