Liverpool 0-3 Nottingham Forest: Sean Dyche leads Tricky Trees to victory as goals from Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White add to the misery for Arne Slott.
Liverpool’s Premier League title defense is in tatters as Nottingham Forest suffer another defeat at the hands of the champions. Sean Dyche’s side put in a strong performance to win 3-0 at Anfield, sending the Reds into 11th place.
Elliott Anderson’s corner kick eventually fell to Murillo, giving Forest the lead. After a smart first touch, Murillo fired from 12 yards out. The visitors took the lead in the 33rd minute, although it was not without controversy as Dan Ndoye was found in an offside position.
Moments later, Igor Jesus was driving away to celebrate, but his joy was cut short when Andy Madley judged him to have handled the ball before it hit the net. Replays were not clear, but the score remained 1-0.
Forest were undaunted and wasted little time making an impact in the second period. Nicolò Savona sent a pass into the goal after just 39 seconds from Neco Williams’ pullback.
Liverpool’s slump would only continue when Morgan Gibbs-White added a third goal in the 79th minute. The midfielder scored after Alisson saved a shot from Omari Hutchinson, his third goal of the game.
read more: Premier League Match Center issues two statements following Liverpool vs Forest controversyread more: Former Liverpool star Luis Diaz to miss match against Arsenal after being handed long-term suspension by UEFA
Mirror Football looks at the topics that arose as Liverpool slumped to their sixth defeat.
Allison is No.1
Any questions about who Liverpool’s No. 1 option would be were quickly put to rest on Saturday. The Brazilian made his return in goal after being sidelined for more than a month, filling in for Giorgi Mamadashvili in his absence.
The Georgians knew they had a difficult task to steal Alisson when they signed, and now the magnitude of that task will become painfully clear. Alisson’s two weeks of training was enough to give the Liverpool icon back the gloves.
However, there was no happy return for Alisson in Saturday’s game. If Liverpool make a mistake with Mamadashvili, the blame could be placed elsewhere.
Isaac plan
Manager Arne Slott revealed before confirming Alexander Isak’s starting XI that the forward will be available a few minutes earlier than other team-mates who are fit for the match.
“We know that Alexander Isak, who is 100 percent fit, is a huge plus for this team. But he may need time to get there, where you can argue that other players may be even better than him in terms of match fitness.”
“If you watch the training sessions, you can see his quality if he is completely rested,” Slott added. “We play in short spaces, so the ball comes to him a lot. But in 11v11 on big pitches, he runs a lot and doesn’t touch the ball as much. It will still take some time, but if we get him fit, he will eventually be the player he was at Newcastle.”
Should that moment come at the expense of Hugo Ekitike, who has really hit the ground running at Liverpool? It is becoming increasingly difficult to argue that this should be the case.
Isak’s efforts were largely in vain throughout the 68 minutes. Liverpool took shots, but the Swedes didn’t, apart from a wild slice in the second period.
Murillo’s goal
For another week, another player was in an offside position before the goal was scored. The coincidence of Liverpool scoring after Virgil van Dijk’s shot was canceled out in the last game against Manchester City is almost unbelievable.
Liverpool then wrote to PGMOL and it appears they were unfairly denied a goal. We can’t complain too much this time, can we? Arne Slott certainly didn’t look satisfied technically. Football is a cruel sport.
Former referee Mike Dean said: “What happened the week before last (Virgil van Dijk’s goal canceled against Man City) was a wrong call. For me, this was a goal. It went around the attacker on the right and he had a clear line of sight.”
The referee’s declaration of the goal was confirmed by VAR, which determined that N’Doe was not within Alisson’s line of sight and did not take any action that would have affected the opponent.
Was the goal correctly disallowed?
Another moment of debate occurred just minutes after the first. It’s safe to say that some people didn’t think Jesus handled the ball.
Former Wales defender Ashley Williams said: “I’m looking at both angles of the goal and from both angles I can’t see the goal touching his arm at all. The ball hit Jesus between the chest and stomach. That goal should have been made.”
Martin Keown was also at a loss. “It looks like the ball came up and hit Jesus in the ribcage,” he said. “For sure VAR saw something that chalked it up. You can’t see the hands.”
Premier League Match Center explained the decision: “The referee’s no-goal decision was confirmed by VAR, which determined that Jesus had mishandled the ball before scoring.”
Is everything clear?
forest hoodoo
Even in a season in which they won the title in style, Liverpool failed to pick up three points against Forest. The Midlands club won at Anfield and claimed a draw despite there being little in the way of the Reds at the City Ground.
At this point, Liverpool was dismantled. They had more shots and possession, but once they were behind, there was no sign of them coming back.
The Reds have lost as many games as they have won in the Premier League, but Sean Dyche has made a great start alongside Forest.
Liverpool also have a habit of conceding three goals. Saturday’s visitors will follow in the footsteps of Crystal Palace and Manchester City.
Everything becomes more serious when you lose at home.
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