Liverpool missed the chance to go top of the Premier League by drawing with Fulham.
Bobby Decordova-Reid broke the deadlock on 25 minutes by striking a composed finish past Alisson Becker on his return from a hamstring problem.
But the champions ramped up the pressure after the break and equalised courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s penalty after Aboubakar Kamara’s handball.
The stalemate means Jurgen Klopp’s side failed to displace Tottenham at the summit despite the Londoners’ draw against Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday.
Here were the key talking points from Craven Cottage:
Front three missing Jota’s spark
News of Diogo Jota’s absence for up to eight weeks with a knee injury sustained against Midtjylland broke just before kick-off in the capital.
Even with Liverpool’s first-choice front three available, it still felt as though they lacked the spark the Portuguese has injected so many times this season.
Only Mohamed Salah has netted more goals than Jota’s nine and with both Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino enduring barren spells, the Reds’ attack looked a little blunt.
Jurgen Klopp will no doubt need to make use of his already depleted squad over the festive period, which involves four games before the end of 2020.
Time will tell whether the likes of Divock Origi, an ineffective substitute against the struggling Cottagers, can step up to the plate in Jota’s absence.
Reds’ sticking plaster is loosening
Liverpool’s defence has largely coped since Virgil van Dijk’s injury in the Merseyside derby but still haven’t kept consecutive clean sheets since June.
In truth, they had Alisson to thank for preventing Fulham from racking up the goals with the Brazilian twice denying Ivan Cavaleiro in the first 15 minutes.
Joel Matip’s withdrawal due to a back injury will only further aggravate Klopp, who is already set to be without Van Dijk and Joe Gomez for the rest of the season.
His side endered the game with midfielders Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, at centre-back, which just lacked the same composure offered by Van Dijk.
Klopp may be able to get by with sticking plasters like this for a few games, but once the January transfer window opens, Liverpool urgently need reinforcements in this area.
At least Alisson, himself missing three games with injury, showed again why he was worth every penny of his £65 million fee with countless crucial saves.
Jones’ star is on the rise
If Klopp can take any positives from this result, it is that Curtis Jones is already approaching the status of an established regular in this Liverpool side.
The 19-year-old tested Fulham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola numerous times, before winning the free-kick from which they earned their Salah’s penalty.
In just his fourth league start of the season, Jones managed a 95 per cent pass accuracy, and his mazy run at the end of the game deserved to yield a late match-winner.
Areola denied him on that occasion, but still Jones emerged as comfortably Liverpool’s stand-out performer in the stalemate at Craven Cottage.
Klopp has spoken before about a desire to nurture Liverpool’s academy graduates, and in Jones he may well have the next star from that production line.
Winning at home but still woeful away
This draw marked five league games without an away victory for Liverpool for the first time first time since March 2017.
Since a 3-0 defeat at Watford which ending their dream of an unbeaten season, Klopp’s men have managed just three wins from 11 on the road.
True, Klopp’s hand has been forced to a large extent with injuries, and they still remain joint-top given those around them also keep dropping points.
But Liverpool are struggling to rediscover that aura of invincibility they previously carried away from home which complimented their Anfield fortress.
Empty stadiums were supposedly a great equaliser for visiting teams but even with 2,000 buoyant Fulham fans present, Liverpool should still have had enough.
Yet they took far too long to get going in a dismal first-half display and only avoided leaving empty-handed courtesy of Aboubakar Kamara’s handball.