Liverpool were held to a frustrating goalless draw at home to Chelsea.
Jurgen Klopp’s 1,000th game in management saw a dull encounter between the Premier League’s ninth and tenth-placed teams respectively on Saturday.
Here were the key talking points from Anfield:
No end in sight to Reds’ malaise
Low on quality and entertainment, Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off was everything you would expect from its ninth and tenth-placed teams.
Liverpool and Chelsea’s match-ups have developed a reputation for being close-fought yet thrilling encounters during the previous 15 years or so.
Their double-header in last season’s FA and Carabao Cup finals produced a spectacle but crucially no goals in more than four hours’ worth of football.
None arrived in this latest fixture, either, with Jurgen Klopp’s 1,000th game in management being one to forget as the Reds’ mid-table malaise continues.
Although they were noticeably improved after the half-time interval, they still struggled to land a glove on their west London counterparts throughout.
In periods of difficulty, Klopp’s side have always managed to punch through somehow; producing flashes of their manager’s brand of heavy-metal football.
Yet save for a handful of half-chances, there was little for the 54,000 who braved the elements for this Anfield stalemate that matched the bitter cold.
Mixed fortunes for cup kids
Klopp persevered with all except three of those who helped set up an FA Cup fourth round tie away to Brighton after overcoming Wolves in midweek.
But fortune did not favour Harvey Elliott, on the back of his match-winning heroics at Molineux, in this showdown with his erstwhile Fulham nemeses.
The 19-year-old found himself operating on the left-hand side of a three-pronged forward line with Mohamed Salah and new signing Cody Gakpo.
His impact out wide, however, proved somewhat limited with a solitary cross constituting the sum of his efforts as part of Liverpool’s wasteful triumvirate.
In truth, Elliott fared little better when moving into a more natural midfield habitat as the hosts struggled to build on their early second-half momentum.
Elsewhere in the engine room, Stefan Bajcetic continued to exude a maturity which belied his teenage years on an exemplary full Premier League debut.
The Spanish youth international sprayed a clever ball for Salah to tee up Gakpo in the opening stages before demonstrating his ice-cool discipline.
Bajcetic spent his final 48 minutes on the pitch staying on the right side of the law, having earlier been booked following a late challenge on Lewis Hall.
Milner’s age finally starts to show
Throughout Klopp’s time, James Milner has been Liverpool’s everyman.
Versatility and unstinting longevity are just some of the reasons why the 37-year-old featured in 302 of the German’s 411 matches at the helm to date.
There will, however, come a time in the near future when Milner’s tireless commitment to the cause will become offset by his advancing seniority.
Deployed at right-back in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who started on the bench as a precaution, the vice-captain held his own throughout the first half.
It was only when Chelsea introduced their new record signing Mykhailo Mudryk that Milner started to find himself overwhelmed in the auxiliary role.
The next 17 minutes saw the Ukrainian get the better of the elder statesman, who struggled to keep pace as the visitors routinely began to exploit his side.
Milner is not yet a busted flush by any stretch of the imagination but Klopp was afforded an insight of what lies over the horizon for his key lieutenant.