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John W Henry is no stranger to taking a gamble.

Liverpool’s principal owner made his fortune across the Atlantic trading commodities such as soybeans and corn.

Henry’s reputation as a highly successful businessman has been forged on a history of making bold, risky bets which have ultimately paid dividends. He knows all about the need to speculate in order to accumulate.

An air of frustration hung over Anfield on Saturday night but if an error-strewn 2-2 draw with Aston Villa triggers the Reds’ belated entry into the January transfer market it will have served a purpose.

Henry must have hoped he would be treated to an exhibition of how far Liverpool have come after taking his seat in the directors box for the first time since Brendan Rodgers’ appointment 20 months ago.

Instead the hosts merely showed the visiting American and his Fenway Sports Group business partner Tom Werner the distance they still have to travel. Weaknesses were exposed as a run of eight successive home wins in all competitions came to a halt.

In pictures: Reds draw with Villa

Liverpool remain inside the Premier League’s top four but it’s crystal clear that reinforcements are needed if they are going to still be there come May.

“We know that January is a difficult window for bringing in quality players,” Werner said recently. “Either talent is too highly priced or not available.”

But the question is can Liverpool really afford not to do business over the coming 11 days?

After a painful four-year absence from the Champions League, they have a glorious chance to rejoin Europe’s elite and bank an estimated £40million windfall.

The progress Rodgers has overseen, coupled with upheaval and transition elsewhere, has enabled the Reds to give themselves a platform to achieve something tangible this term but the manager needs help.

Saturday showed he can’t always rely on the firepower of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge to paper over the cracks. An injection of talent is urgently required in other departments to ensure this campaign of such promise doesn’t falter.

Signing a left-back is vital. How a player of such limited ability as Aly Cissokho has clocked up nearly a dozen appearances for Liverpool is baffling.

With every outing, the on-loan Frenchman looks more like a competition winner and less like a Premier League defender. He’s simply out of his depth at this level.

On the other flank Glen Johnson’s form remains a major concern with his contribution having nosedived in recent months.

The sight of Lucas Leiva leaving Anfield on crutches only served to magnify the importance of boosting the midfield options – both centrally and out wide.

“It’s in God’s hands,” tweeted Lucas, who will anxiously await the results of a scan on his knee after hearing ‘a click’.

Losing the Brazil international for a significant period would be a major setback to the Reds’ top four hopes.

It was the introduction of Lucas for fellow countryman Philippe Coutinho after the interval which enabled Liverpool to belatedly gain a foothold in the contest after a wretched first half.

Rodgers’ team selection may have been bold but it simply didn’t work. The balance was all wrong and the Reds couldn’t keep the ball long enough to feed the front two.

More pictures from the game:

With Raheem Sterling and Coutinho operating out wide, Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson were hopelessly outnumbered in the centre.

Villa’s midfield diamond of Ashley Westwood, Fabian Delph, Karim El Ahmadi and Andreas Weimann had a field day.

Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ciaran Clark both should have scored before Weimann provided the finishing touch to a swift counter-attack.

Centre-backs Kolo Toure and Martin Skrtel struggled against the pace of Agbonlahor and the brawn of Christian Benteke. The return of Mamadou Sakho from injury can’t come soon enough.

Of course the backline weren’t helped by another blunder from Simon Mignolet which enabled Benteke to double Villa’s lead.

It was a bad misjudgement by the Belgian keeper whose confidence appears to have been dented by similarly costly errors against Manchester City, Chelsea and Stoke over the past month.

After such an impressive start to his Anfield career, a worrying blip is in danger of becoming something more serious.

The new era of Gerrard as Liverpool’s ‘controller’ in front of the back four was abandoned at the break.

“It didn’t work for myself or the team,” the skipper admitted.

“They put a lot of men around me. Every time I tried to get the ball under control they swamped me.

“I openly admit it wasn’t one of my better 45 minutes but I improved after the break with the team.”

In time Gerrard could flourish in that holding role but Saturday was a reminder of what he still has to offer the Reds going forward.

With Lucas on, Gerrard pushed further up the field and Johnson pressed into action as a makeshift third centre-back, with Cissokho and Sterling asked to operate as wing-backs, Liverpool finally began to dominate possession.

Sturridge had provided a lifeline in first-half stoppage time when he coolly converted after a delightful touch from Henderson and eight minutes into the second half parity was restored courtesy of Gerrard’s spot-kick.

The captain created the opening with a raking pass to pick out Suarez’s run and the striker was upended by the onrushing Brad Guzan.

Predictably, controversy reigned with Villa accusing the Uruguayan of going to ground too easily.

The phone-ins were packed with fans of rival clubs appointing themselves as moral guardians of the beautiful game to lambast Suarez. The Match of the Day viewers poll branded him ‘a diver’.

Suarez is such an easy target. The reality is that Guzan was reckless, got nowhere near the ball and there was contact.

Referee Jon Moss got that one right but he got it horribly wrong in the first half when he failed to punish Leandro Bacuna’s elbow on the prolific frontman.

Liverpool’s search for a winner was hampered by Lucas’ exit. Suarez went close with a curling free-kick but the Reds were unconvincing and victory would have flattered Rodgers’ side.

Sterling shone down the right but there was nothing from the other flank. No wonder Rodgers is so keen to land FC Basel’s Mohamed Salah.

The fightback to rescue a share of the spoils showed character and dropping points at Anfield for the first time since September is hardly cause for panic.

But with Henry in town this was an evening which laid bare some familiar frailties.

They need to be addressed with new additions. This is a window of opportunity for Liverpool but the clock is ticking.

More on LFC today:

Henderson defends team-mate Suarez after penalty which sees Reds earn a point against Villa

Reds to test Basel resolve as they step up pursuit of Salah

Lucas injury fears after midfielder limps off in the second half during Villa draw