Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool Player Ratings: Nottingham holds Liverpool to rise to 2nd in the league

Nottingham Forest hold leaders Liverpool after a thrilling 1-1 draw. The home side in great form stuck early through Chris Wood and defended superbly. Just when a first league double against Liverpool since the 1962/63 season was getting real, Jota stuck with a simple header just 20 seconds after coming on. Though there were late chances, the

The City Ground was buzzing as Nottingham Forest were in high spirits in the third position before the kickoff. The hosts did not get a sniff of the ball for the first few minutes as Liverpool fired some shots from outside the box. They said who needed possession when Murillo won the ball back and Elanga slipped in Wood who converted the first real attack for the hosts.

Once Forest took the lead, it was all about protecting it for them. They sat into their excellent defensive shape and asked Liverpool to break them down. The league leaders were unusually sloppy and were overhitting simple passes. They ruined a couple of good counter-attacks and failed to work Sels properly in the first half as the hosts walked away with a half-time lead.

Liverpool’s evening was getting worse as Nottingham started launching dangerous counters. Slot’s first throw of the dice from the bench provided instant impact as Tsimikas provided an excellent cross for Jota to touch it home with his first involvement after coming on. The sides had everything to play for in the final quarter.

The visitors put immense pressure with Jota, Szoboszlai and Salah all coming close. Sels who didn’t have a single save to make in the first half was a busy man in the second. It ended all square as Liverpool couldn’t find a way past Forest’s endgame deep block.

A point lifts the hosts to second in the table and they trial leaders Liverpool by 6 points. Arsenal’s result against Tottenham tomorrow night might change the table again. Liverpool visit Brentford next and Nottingham go to Southampton.

Nottingham Forest Player Ratings vs Liverpool

Goalkeeper

Matz Sels: 7/10- Rarely worked in the first half despite Liverpool having more than two-thirds of the ball. Could’ve done better for the equaliser as he conceded with the first shot on target. Did well to deny Jota shortly afterwards. A barrage of late saves to keep the scoreline level.

Defenders

Ola Aina: 6.5/10- Held his ground against Gakpo and was safe with the ball while receiving under pressure. Blocked a certain goalbound effort from Salah late in the game.

Nikola Milenkovic: 7/10- Calmer of the two centre-backs, enjoyed defending the box and headed away many crosses.

Murillo: 8/10- Won the ball for the first goal and progressed it forward. Almost scored a goal for the ages as he intercepted a pass before marching on and unleashing a left-footed thunderbolt. His front-footed defending helped his side a lot.

Neco Williams: 7.5/10- Had a fairly successful half against Salah as he won multiple duels and forced Salah to pick a back pass. Continued his great work throughout the game.

Midfielders

Ryan Yates: 6/10- The captain sat back and became an extra centre-back when needed and was happy to break up play when needed.

Elliot Anderson: 7.5/10- Put in some excellent tackles to thwart Salah and had the freedom to venture forward and hurt Liverpool.

Anthony Elanga: 7/10- Found Wood expertly with a cute pass in behind the defence. Swapped wings late in the game but had little impact.

Morgan Gibbs-White: 6.5/10- Had very little of the ball today so he had to resort to his physicality and win some duels for his side in his own half.

Callum Hudson-Odoi: 7/10- Played very high and wide with the intention of catching out Trent. It nearly paid dividends as he skipped past him a couple of times but couldn’t find the killer pass.

Attacker

Chris Wood: 7.5/10- Perfect centre-forward play. Ran the channel and held his line before finishing first time past Alisson on his left foot. Provided excellent hold-up play whenever Forest had the ball.

Substitutes

Nicolas Dominguez: /10

Jota Silva: /10

Taiwo Awoniyi: N/A

Morato: N/A

Alex Moreno: N/A

Manager

Nuno Espirito Santo: 8/10- For the second time this season Nuno got the better of Slot. Fielded his strongest team and they played to their strengths. Would be really disappointed at conceding a rare set-piece goal to miss out on the elusive league double.

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Liverpool Player Ratings vs Nottingham Forest

Goalkeeper

Alisson: 6/10- Couldn’t get anything behind Wood’s strike as it went through him. Virtually had nothing else to do in the second half.

Defenders

Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6.5/10- Susceptible as ever in the defence and loose with the ball early on. Trent later found his passing range with some clean long balls to create openings.

Ibrahima Konate: 6/10- Very naive in the clearance in the move that led to Forest’s opener. Clearly, he’s not at his best after the injury.

Virgil van Dijk: 7/10- The only member of the Liverpool defence playing at his level. Very frustrated by the lax attitude of his colleagues. Playing Wood onside for the first goal would be his biggest regret.

Andrew Robertson: 5/10- Miles off of his usual form. Failed to hit the simplest of passes and was all over the place defensively.

Midfielders

Ryan Gravenberch: 6/10- Had a good couple of runs into the box and miscued both the shots badly. Was tormented in the middle and later shifted to the centre-back position.

Alexis Mac Allister: 6/10- The ever-safe Argentine had a rough night as he was having visions while passing. A laid-back attitude while defending didn’t help his side either.

Mohamed Salah: 6/10- Tried multiple things against Nico Williams. Few came off but he looked lost on the other few times. Wasted multiple chances in the second half to win the game.

Dominik Szoboszlai: 6/10- Failed to provide a creative spark Liverpool needed to turn things around. Couldn’t utilise the angles that opened up on the right half-space.

Cody Gakpo: 6/10- Tried one thing over and over again to no great success. Aina read his intention of cutting in and didn’t try to over-engage him.

Attackers

Luis Diaz: 6/10- Played as the false 9 and dropped deep a lot of time to break Forest’s defence. Missed a sitter of a pass to release Gakpo 1v1.

Substitutes

Konstantinos Tsimikas: 7/10

Diogo Jota: 7.5/10

Curtis Jones: 6/10

Manager

Arne Slot: 5/10- He knew what was coming from Nottingham but couldn’t prepare his side for it. A really sloppy first half was followed by an improved second half. His subs combined to get a result but did not show much intent late in the game.

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