Liverpool were left frustrated after being held for a second game by West Brom.

On the back of Sunday’s stalemate with Everton, Jurgen Klopp’s side encountered further disappointment at Anfield as they failed to break down the Baggies.

Dominic Solanke thought he had given the Reds a second-half winner when he scored in front of the Kop but saw his goal chalked off for a handball decision.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Reds risk an unhappy Christmas

 

For all the complaints about referees and Everton’s defensive system, it was Liverpool’s wastefulness that cost them all three points in the Merseyside derby.

And the same sloppiness came back to haunt them against West Brom.

Despite the ‘Fab Four’ all starting together, the Reds’ attacking play was profligate to the extreme against Alan Pardew’s new Baggies side.

Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah all wasted glorious chances while, elsewhere, the passing was slack, touches were careless and the usual intensity was sorely lacking in all departments.

If he isn’t already, Jurgen Klopp should be concerned; this newfound sloppiness is threatening to ruin Liverpool’s Christmas.

Salah dependency must end

 

For all the positives that Salah offers Liverpool, there is one major flaw – they have become far too dependent on him.

As with Sadio Mane last season, it appears that if the Egypt international is not in blistering form then neither are any of his teammates.

So far this season, Salah has opened the scoring for his side no fewer than seven times in the Premier League. His closest competitor in that is Mane, with three.

Liverpool’s squad is a talented one, as has been demonstrated multiple times already, it’s time some stepped up and stopped relying on Salah to produce.

Jekyll and Hyde still haunt Anfield

 

As 45 minutes of football go, the first half offered in this game was among the worst served up.

It was something that frustrated Anfield, as it has done for a number of years, but nothing it hasn’t seen before.

Liverpool may boast the third-best record in the Premier League when it comes to the first half of games, the numbers involved tell a sorry tale.

They have only been behind on three occasions and they have also been drawing as many games as they have been winning them.

So far that has not been a problem, with the firepower up front sparing their blushes on more than one occasion.

There is no denying it’s an issue, though, especially after this game.

Solving it should be a priority for Klopp rather than rotation – if Liverpool could kill off games more quickly, they would not need to shuffle the pack so much.

Lovren bounces back

 

Following his moment of madness against Everton, Dejan Lovren will have wanted to put last weekend’s events behind him. He managed to do exactly that.

Tasked with dealing with a man-mountain in West Brom striker Solomon Rondon, the Croatian defender was superb from start to finish.

Rondon barely had a sniff all evening, with Lovren marshalling him into obscurity despite the South American enjoying the upper hand in physicality.

It won’t make up for the mistake against Everton, or the numerous ones that have plagued his Reds career, but a solid performance should not be overlooked.

An overdue shot in the arm is exactly what Lovren – and Liverpool – needed.