Opening Day Draw For City's Women
Sophie Haug opened the scoring on the brink of half-time for the Reds but, shortly after the interval, Rantala drew the Foxes back level with a smart finish on the break to provide Leicester a promising start to the new campaign at Totally Wicked Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Amandine Miquel's first WSL line-up of the campaign included one full WSL debut, for French forward Noémie Mouchon, who had found the net on two occasions in pre-season, while Ruby Mace was named in the starting XI, following her return to the Club on a permanent basis this summer.
Similar to the Men's game on Saturday, the Foxes were battling the elements as well as their opposition, as heavy downpour around kick-off led to a wet and heavy surface, with the hosts having the first chance of the game around eight minutes in; Ceri Holland forcing a top-notch save from Lize Kop with an effort destined for the top corner.
Ten minutes later, Liverpool had their best chance when a low cross into the box found Jenna Clark but thankfully for City, the effort was tame, and allowed the chance for Kop to get behind it.
After some relentless pressure from the Reds, City had their first shot on target through Mouchon, firing towards the bottom right-hand corner, which Rachael Laws was behind, to turn it out and away from danger.
In the latter stages of the first half, Leicester posed a more attacking threat, breaking beyond the Reds' backline and coming close on a number of occasions; notably when Mace lined up an effort from outside the box but saw the ball fly over the bar.
The deadlock was broken before the half-time whistle by Liverpool when Haug was left unmarked in the box from a corner, and put a low header past Kop to put her side in front.
Towards the start of the second half, the heavens opened, and Leicester found a swift equaliser. A brilliant ball over the top from Yuka Momiki couldn't be dealt with by Taylor Hinds, leaving Rantala with room to break into the box and fire low under the 'keeper.
Over the last 15 minutes, both sides saw chances and looked determined to find a winner, and with the weather conditions continuing to worsen, that looked possible. For the Foxes, Deanne Rose was introduced and caused havoc for the Reds' backline.
In the dying stages of seven additional minutes, Leicester thought they'd stolen all three points when Rantala's cross was headed beyond Laws by Mace from close range, but a glance to the touchline saw the assistant's flag raised.
It's a point on the board for Miquel's side, who will take plenty of positives from the season opener as they now build towards a first home game of the season, when Arsenal make the trip to King Power Stadium next Sunday (2pm BST kick-off).