Liverpool in crisis as Nottingham Forest conquer Anfield again with 3-0 victory

The away side's victory at Anfield last season seemed an anomaly in an typically commanding Premier League performances at Anfield for Liverpool. A second successive win in the current campaign, a much more emphatic success under the Forest boss, was indicative of the problems engulfing the declining title holders.

Forest's exemplary display

Forest were exemplary as they achieved their most significant win at the famous ground. Goals from Murillo, superb at each end of the playing surface, the full-back and the superb Morgan Gibbs-White spurred a well-earned success for a Forest side that also secured a initial shutout in 20 top-flight fixtures.

The home side's struggles

The Reds, on the other hand, were a mess as they suffered an 8th loss in 11 games to slide into the bottom half of the standings. Weak at set pieces, again, unproductive in attack, again, with Isak withdrawn after sixty-eight anonymous moments, and defensively weak, they struggled in every area to fall to a back-to-back 3-0 reverse.

Early dominance without payoff

For the opening half-hour Liverpool held the initiative, the occasional counter from the Forest attacker aside, but the inability to turn promise into the tangible reward of finishes cost them dearly. the midfielder was offered an early opening from Cody Gakpo's drive into the penalty area only for Anderson to execute a excellent line save with his forehead. He had a second shot stopped soon after while skilful skill from Salah produced another short-distance opportunity for Milos Kerkez. An opposition player just succeeded to pressure the defender into firing over.

Set-play weakness strikes once more

Liverpool's coach has frequently criticized Liverpool's weakness to transitions and set-plays now. There was new reason for concern when Forest took the lead through a mix of the both aspects.

Sean Dyche was surprised after Jesus was unable to release the midfielder in space on the break and gave the defender opportunity to intercept. The following corner triggered celebratory moments in the away team's area, though, when Anderson's cross glanced off Virgil van Dijk to the goalscorer and the central defender fired an unstoppable strike from close range into the back of the net. There were reminders of the defender's ruled out strike against City in the away team's initial score with Dan Ndoye located in an offside in front of the home side's fit-again keeper Alisson.

VAR rulings and debate

Unsurprisingly, the Van Dijk was swift to mention the similarities to the referee, Madley. In contrast to Robertson at the Manchester, the forward made no clear movement in front of Alisson and the score remained. Officials stated: "The referee's call of a score was checked and verified by the video system – with it considered that he was outside of the line of vision of the goalkeeper and avoided an interference that influenced an player."

The home side were reprieved by the referees and VAR two minutes following when Igor Jesus believed he had added to Nottingham Forest's cushion.

The defender, who experienced a poor day, made an weak effort to deal with an Ibrahim Sangaré's ball and deflected the ball against the attacker, who controlled before slotting the net of Alisson's posts. Andrew Madley, in discussion with his assistant, ruled out the effort for a handball that multiple reviews struggled to prove or disprove. The Premier League stated: "The decision of invalid score was reviewed and supported by the system – with it deemed that Igor Jesus accidentally touched the sphere before finishing."

Follow-up goal widens advantage

So much for the let-off. Moments of the restart Mac Allister failed to intercept a delivery towards Williams inside the Liverpool box. The full-back evaded from his marker and laid their next goal on a silver platter for fellow full back the scorer, who located Alisson's upper corner with a calm accurate strike.

Tactical substitutions prove ineffective

Liverpool's coach made changes, bringing off Ibrahima Konaté with Hugo Ekitiké after 55 minutes and using the Les Bleus forward next to Isak. This change continued just a short period before Isak was withdrawn following a further ineffective performance. the winger and Rio Ngumoha were additionally added to the hosts' offense but sloppiness in ball control and resolute visitors' defense kept the hosts at bay.

Late strike wraps up the result

Forest demonstrated the precision and cutting edge that the hosts were without in the final third to decide the game {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively