Liverpool dropped points for the first time this season after Callum Hudson-Odoi’s stunning second-half goal handed Nottingham Forest their first win at Anfield for 55 years.
Arne Slot’s side had not conceded a goal in the league this season before Hudson-Odoi came off the Forest bench, with Nuno Espirito Santo scoring a brace to seal an incredible 1-0 victory.
The substitute netted the winner in the 72nd minute after Liverpool’s retreating backline gave him time and space to measure a shot from 20 yards, with moving support behind the goal beckoning him to try his luck. He dutifully bent a perfectly accurate strike past Allison, who was fully outstretched.
“We lost the ball a lot in simple positions,” Slot said. “It wasn’t good enough, and too many individual plays weren’t up to the standard I’m used to. It’s a huge frustration.”
Liverpool have lost two of their last five Premier League games at Anfield.
Liverpool, with big ambitions in Slot’s first season in charge, produced plenty of goals but lacked penetrative brilliance as not every last pass or finishing attempt was on target.
Fourteen shots (five on target) showed the home team’s clear dominance, but unlike the seven goals they scored in the first three weeks of the season, they were unable to translate this superiority into concrete results.
Callum Hudson-Odoi celebrates victory over Liverpool
Meanwhile, everything Forrest did paid off.
Both teams started – Ryan Yates and James Ward-Prowse were among four substitutes selected to fill the middle of the park, and the formation was effective in suppressing and frustrating Liverpool. The substitution had a game-changing effect as Anthony Elanga and Hudson-Odoi combined for the winning goal. The result of a precise and well-constructed game plan, executed to perfection.
“A lot of our fans weren’t even born (when Forest last won at Anfield) which tells you how difficult it is to win here,” Nuno recalled.
Merson unconvinced by Liverpool’s listlessness
For a more accessible video player, please use the Chrome browser.
Paul Merson says Ane Slot’s Liverpool side will not be able to challenge for the Premier League title after their shock 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson:
“I thought Liverpool were a bit boring. I thought they were slow. When you watch Jurgen Klopp’s team play, they’re broken and 100 miles an hour. They just seemed to go through the motions. They weren’t fast enough.
“Unless they do it quickly, I don’t see it. I don’t see them challenging. Watching this game, I thought, ‘If we don’t lose this ball, we’ll win’. And I don’t think that’s Liverpool.”
Slots: Players who aren’t the standard I’m used to
For a more accessible video player, please use the Chrome browser.
Liverpool manager Ane Slot says his team needed to be better with the ball after their 1-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot:
“The only thing we could influence was possession. If we were playing that much in the opposition half, we had to be better. We lost the ball a lot, even in simple situations.
“Today I saw a team that wanted to fight until the end. It had nothing to do with energy, but we had a lot of the ball. We have to create with the ball.
“It wasn’t good enough, too many individual performances weren’t up to the standard I’d expect from these players. It’s a huge disappointment when you lose a home game, especially against a team that’s not usually in the top 10. They’re really well organised and structured but it’s a huge disappointment.”
Nunu, I’m proud of the team’s performance
For a more accessible video player, please use the Chrome browser.
Nuno Espirito Santo says Nottingham Forest must play a balanced game to secure a 1-0 win at Liverpool.
Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo:
“I’m very happy. I’m proud of the players’ efforts, and I’m proud of the way we conducted ourselves as a team. The important thing is to take the opportunity at the right moment and we did that.
“We brought in substitutes and they came in and had an impact on the game. That’s good. The squad has to be ready because it’s going to be a very long season.
“In the first half we tried to correct some of the mistakes we saw and as a result we came together a lot more tightly in the second half.”
Analysis: Liverpool could look ordinary
Mohamed Salah was subpar as Liverpool squandered the chances they needed to break the deadlock.
This wasn’t necessarily a game that Nottingham Forest should have won. It wasn’t a game that Liverpool should have lost. But the results of the Premier League aren’t always determined by who deserves it more. Arne Slot will know that by now.
It was a day when the Liverpool manager discovered that his new playground was not always fun and cheerful. And those seemingly less powerful – the Dutchman told a press conference that Forest were not considered a top-10 team – could deliver surprises one by one.
There was nothing really wrong with Liverpool. But Nuno Espirito Santo did a lot of things right. He set up his team smartly, picked the best midfield attackers, and made smart tactical decisions at key moments in the game. His substitutions were more effective than just slot substitutions.
Liverpool were also more sloppy than usual. They were vulnerable on the counter-attack (Forest’s biggest asset) and were lax in possession, failing to create chances. The home team finished with an xG of 0.87, well below the norm.
Slot blamed the poor performances of individual players. His argument is valid. Paul Merson, on the other hand, called Liverpool “boring”. But what is clear is that Slot is keen to see Liverpool’s power hitters perform if they are to succeed this season.
We saw little of the magic of Mo Salah, the ingenuity of Luis Diaz (though he did hit the post), the skill of Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the end result was mediocre.
