Liverpool 0-3 Nottingham Forest - Live Player Ratings and Match Report

Liverpool 0-3 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest's resurgance under Sean Dyche and Liverpool's woes under Arne Slot both continued in a shock fashion on Saturday afternoon, as the East Midlands outfit secured a stunning 3-0 win to defeat the defending champions.

After a 1-0 win at Anfield last season, Nottingham Forest have now beaten Liverpool at Anfield in consecutive visits for the first time since 1963. They have Murillo, Nicolo Savona and vice-captain Morgan Gibbs-White to thank who found the net to secure three points amongst a fantastic away-day display in Merseyside

Rampant Reds Rip Liverpool Apart

It was a fairly quiet opening half an hour at Anfield, with no massive chances to speak of though this looked to be the case across every 3pm kick-off in the Premier League today - everyone kicked it up a gear at the half-hour stage.

Cody Gakpo, Virgil van Dijk, and Milos Kerkez were all on hand in the opening 25 minutes to have attempts at the Forest goal easily defended by the travelling Reds. Alexis MacAllister came devilishly close to opening the scoring for the hosts after some good work on the left from Cody Gakpo, but his goal-bound effort was blocked away on the line by Murillo.

But it was Sean Dyche's side who managed to grab the lead just beyond the half-hour mark through Murillo, who fired home with aplomb after a corner fortuitously fell his way. Hell of a finish, so it was, from the centre-back.

Not long after, Nottingham Forest thought they had entered dreamland as they made it 2-0 through Igor Jesus. The Brazilian striker, who is searching for a first Premier League goal despite scoring five in all competitions this season, collected a cross from the right hand-side at the fraility of Ibrahima Konate, before steadying a low finish into the bottom corner. Liverpool appealed the finish as they believed the ball to have struck Jesus' hands. The referee chalked the goal off and VAR upheld the decision, but the decision proved to be a controversial one - it didn't look as if the ball struck Jesus' arm convincingly.

Liverpool would press on, with Matz Sels reaching a goal-bound header to keep things level as well as diverting a teasing Mohammed Salah trivela at the near post, but the spoils sat in Forest's hands as the two sides broke into the interval.

Half-Time: Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest

The second half could not have started better for the visitors, as they got their sweet revenge on the controversial choice to disallow their second goal of the match by immediately getting it back within the first minute of the restart. Neco Williams, returning to his former club, found a pocket in the left channel and held off a challenge from Salah to bring the ball central for Nicolo Savona. The Italian made no mistake with the chance, confidently stroking the ball beyond Alisson to get the second goal they deserved.

Nottingham Forest did an assured job from there to take the sting out of the game, with Liverpool limited only to a inconsequential left-footed effort from Salah and a bad slice at goal from Alexander Isak. Under Dyche, Forest were expected to become far more solid at the back than shown under Ange Postecoglou, and their defence stifled Liverpool's big-money attack over the majority of the second half.

Forest saw chances of their own, showing considerable composure in moments of possession. Star midfielder Elliot Anderson, amidst another excellent display in the Forest shirt, teased Alisson with two long-range efforts, whilst Jesus continued to be a nuisance to the Liverpool backline by winning a number of fouls with clever centre-forward play.

The visitors would get their chance to put the game to bed. Liverpool were fast asleep as Forest organised a quick free-kick wherein Murillo picked out substitute Omari Hutchinson on the right-wing. He drove inside, twisting fellow sub Andy Robertson into knots before forcing Alisson into a flappy save. The save in question fell straight to captain Morgan Gibbs-White, who made no mistake with a cool finish into the bottom-right corner for 3-0.

Liverpool were done and dusted, as was the scoreline despite a hopeful effort from Dominik Szoboszlai and a late chance for Hutchinson, but Forest continued their superb display all the way to the end to secure a famous win away from home.

Full-Time: Liverpool 0-3 Nottingham Forest

Liverpool Player Ratings:

Liverpool Starting XI: Alisson (4), Szoboszlai (7), Konate (4), (C) Van Dijk (5), Kerkez (5), Jones (6), Gravenberch (5), MacAllister (7), Salah (6), Gakpo (5), Isak (3)

Liverpool Substitutes: Ekitike (7), Robertson (5), Chiesa (5), Ngumoha (N/A)

Liverpool Un-Used Substitutes: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Ramsay, Nyoni

Nottingham Forest Player Ratings

Nottingham Forest Starting XI: Sels (7), Savona (8), Milenkovic (8), Murillo (9), Williams (8), Sangare (7), Anderson (8), (C) Gibbs-White (8), Dominguez (6), Ndoye (7), Jesus (7)

Nottingham Forest Substitutes: Hutchinson (8), Yates (N/A), Hudson-Odoi (N/A)

Nottingham Forest Unused Substitutes: John, Jair, Boly, Morato, McAtee, Kalimuendo

Man Of The Match - Murillo

It could honestly be anyone for Nottingham Forest today, but we'll hand this one over to the Brazilian star in the heart of their defence.

A standard-order block on the line, a stunning finish to open the scoring and an excellent quick-free-kick over to Hutchinson to help secure a third all whilst keeping Liverpool's attack down to a whimper.

Anderson, Gibbs-White, Jesus and plenty more deserve this shout just as much as Murillo, but he's who we will go for.

Rough Day At Work - Alex Isak

For all the drama, all the money and all the promise his Anfield arrival brought alongside Alex Isak in the summer, it just isn't working out at the moment, is it?

Besides a hopeless slice at goal that troubled nobody, the big-money Swede was quiet as a mouse in this game, offering almost no competition against the Forest backline whereas his teammates did.