Liverpool’s 100 per cent record under new boss Arne Slot is over. Nottingham Forest’s first win at Anfield in 55 years was a huge one for the visitors but also raised questions about what the Reds can achieve this season.
Here, we examine player and manager reaction, expert analysis and the stats to see how Liverpool’s perfect start under Slot came to an end on Saturday…
Poor chance creation and Liverpool’s low xG
Liverpool had 70 per cent possession against Forest. So the starting point for their problems is what they did with the ball – or rather what they didn’t do with the ball.
The figure of 0.87 was their lowest expected goals total of the season so far. Indeed, they only fell below 1.00 in this metric once at Anfield last season – in December 2023 against Arsenal.
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson criticised the pace of Liverpool’s play on Saturday and called them boring – never an adjective attached to Liverpool in the Jurgen Klopp mould.
“I thought Liverpool were a bit boring,” he said. “I thought it was slow. When you watched Klopp’s teams play, they break and it is 100mph. It just seemed to go through the phases.”
Slot wasn’t happy with that aspect of Liverpool’s play either. “We lost the ball so many times in simple situations,” the Dutchman said in his press conference. “We only managed to create three or four big chances, by far not enough.”
The inquest starts first thing Sunday, he reassured reporters afterwards.
Substitutions made no impact
Mohamed Salah squandered chances as Forest frustrated Liverpool
Another hugely successful facet of Klopp’s Liverpool centred on in-game changes. The German had a knack for tactical tweaking at key moments in games.
Against Forest, Slot introduced Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Conor Bradley from the bench in a triple change. Liverpool conceded 11 minutes later.
Neither Nunez – who only touched the ball eight times – nor Gakpo managed an attempt on goal in the time they were on the pitch.
“We didn’t manage to play better – when we made the subs – with the ball,” goalkeeper Alisson reflected. “We didn’t create so many clear chances. Because they defended really well but also a little bit of poor football from our side today.”
What was clear, though, was how badly Slot needs his big hitters to perform if Liverpool are to be successful this season. Mohamed Salah was one of many to go missing.
Stop-start game
Liverpool manager Arne Slot said his side had to be better with the ball in their 1-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest
Slot was left frustrated by the disrupted flow of the game and it’s true that Liverpool failed to find any proper rhythm, but equally worth highlighting the hosts committed 15 fouls to Forest’s six.
Liverpool were as much at fault for the discontinuous nature of the 90 minutes as their opponents.
“It was a stop-start game,” Slot said. “You couldn’t get a good rhythm and as a result of that we hardly created any chances. We had to be better with the ball than we were.”
The hosts got drawn into an unwanted slogging match. Nuno Espirito Santo packed the middle third with five central midfielders, including Ryan Yates and James Ward-Prowse, who hassled, harried and broke up play.
Slot tried to change formation to force some cohesion after Liverpool fell behind but it was too little, too late.
Forest defiant and dogged
Perhaps it’s also important to acknowledge that this was not a game Forest necessarily deserved to win. Nor was it a game Liverpool deserved to lose.
But outcomes in the Premier League are not always dictated by who is more deserving. Slot will know that now.
This may well be remembered as the day the Liverpool boss found out about the harshness of the Premier League. And that seemingly lower powers – the Dutchman made a point of saying Forest are not considered a top-10 side in his press conference – can spring a surprise.
Determination played its part too. Nuno recognised that after the game. “The players worked so hard,” he said. “The beginning was very hard, Liverpool had us against the ropes but we managed to stay in the game.
“Defensively we were really good.”
Forest made three defensive blocks from goal-bound shots, 30 clearances and Matz Sels made five saves. Impressive steel.
Vulnerable to counter-attack
Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch were in disbelief after Forest struck on the counter
Liverpool were sloppier than usual too. They were caught on the counter-attack – which was Forest’s best asset – and languid in possession, which accounted for poor chance creation at the opposite end.
Asked if his side’s lack of sharpness could be attributed to the international break, Slot doubled down. He said energy levels were fine, evidenced by the fact his side fought until the final whistle.
But goalkeeper Alisson was frustrated by Liverpool’s poor management of transition moments: “We didn’t adapt quick enough,” he said.
“We conceded three counter-attacks before we concede a goal on a counter-attack. We should defend it better in those situations.
“Hudson-Odoi had too much freedom to do whatever he wanted with the ball, dribbling inside and shooting. It was poor defending from us.”
Bad game or bad luck?
Of course on another day, this match could still have gone Liverpool’s way.
Luis Diaz hit the post in the first half, Sels escaped a clanger when fumbling an innocuous Diaz header on his goal-line, and Ola Aina cleared Virgil Van Dijk’s goal-bound flick from a corner.
Nevertheless, it is a first defeat for Slot and not a particularly timely one. Up next is AC Milan in the Champions League. His first major test as Liverpool boss will be how his side react to this setback…
