If anything sums up Liverpool’s season so far, it would be the way they worked hard to secure a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.
The start of their campaign has been full of shutout goals, and although their luck in that department has run out over the past few months, it returned with a bang this weekend.
Arne Slot’s men were far from their best. When were they at their best this term? Alas, the Dutchman’s side came away with all three points courtesy of Alexis Mac Allister’s late winner.
The win boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season. They are now five points behind Brentford and level on points with fifth-placed Manchester United and fourth-placed Chelsea on 45 points.
How Liverpool left it late to beat Forest
Truth be told, this was a terrible time to play for Nottingham Forest. Welcoming in their fourth manager of the season in Vitor Pereira, the Portuguese was in charge of his first Premier League game in charge of the Midlands outfit.
His side had beaten Fenerbahce very well in Europe a few days ago and came into this match with new confidence.
That confidence showed, especially in the first half. Honestly, the forest was supposed to be invisible. When it came to the break, the visitors had scored only two goals. Managers, by comparison, managed 12.
Furthermore, they only completed 171 passes and 41% of the ball to Forest’s 245 passes and 59%.
However, the script was flipped in the second half. This time Liverpool were the best team, registering 66% of the ball and completing 130 more passes than Pereira’s side. That said, there was an element of luck in their win. They got a VAR call against them and it went in their favor.
Mac Allister found the net twice but only once. The first was a strange goal, although it was ruled out, after Ola Aina’s clearance elbowed the Liverpool midfielder and found the net.
That said, while there was some debate about the Argentinian going through, as it required some VAR intervention, it ended up counting. Virgil van Dijk was standing on the sidelines when his save was headed in by Mac Allister, who couldn’t have missed the mark.
A win may have been secured but all in all this was a poor performance for Liverpool. There were a few players who were accused of that.
Liverpool’s big players who played well against Forest
Mac Allister will take credit, as will Van Dijk and Iraima Konate for the way they dealt with the Forest backline.
However, this attack, as ESPN’s Beth Lindop said, was “absent” at the City Ground. While Hugo Ekitike played the full 90 minutes, he missed a good chance to win the game for Liverpool when he saw a header denied by Stefan Ortega in the second half.
Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo, however, were both withdrawn from proceedings early on. It was no surprise, either.
This has been a difficult campaign for both wingers and Salah, as has been the case for most of 2025/26, has been more distant than usual, failing to pull a single shot, losing the ball 20 times and not registering a shot.
Gakpo wasn’t much better. In fact, he was probably even worse. The Dutchman is on a really dry run, having scored just once in his last 12 league outings. There are very few signs that he will improve on that elusive record on Sunday afternoon.
|
Gakpo vs Forest |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
77 |
|
To touch |
30 |
|
Accurate passes |
11/17 (65%) |
|
Key passes |
0 |
|
Accurate crosses |
1/2 (50%) |
|
Shots |
1 |
|
Shots on target |
0 |
|
Successful dribbles |
0/1 |
|
Ground duels won |
6/7 |
|
Aerial duels won |
0/1 |
|
The property is lost |
8x |
Indeed, like Salah, Gakpo was not particularly known in the forward line, registering only one shot and failing to complete a dribble.
What makes things worse is that he has had fewer touches than goalkeeper Alisson (54), and his 11 passes are painful for a player of his caliber. Combine that with the fact that he didn’t complete any important passes and it’s little surprise to see that Liverpool’s attack was far from the best at the City Ground.
Gakpo has had a poor few months and while Salah often gets special treatment, the same cannot be said for the Netherlands midfielder.
Now it’s time for Rio Ngumoha to start playing Liverpool’s underperforming left back.
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