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The away side's success at Anfield last season was a blip in an otherwise commanding English top division performances at Anfield for Liverpool. A second successive win in the current campaign, a much more emphatic victory under Sean Dyche, was symptomatic of the challenges engulfing the faltering title holders.

Nottingham Forest's superb display

Forest were brilliant as they secured their biggest triumph at the famous ground. Scores from the Brazilian, excellent at both ends of the pitch, Nicolò Savona and the exceptional Morgan Gibbs-White inspired a deserved victory for a team that also kept a maid clean sheet in twenty Premier League games.

Liverpool's difficulties

The hosts, on the other hand, were a mess as they endured an 8th setback in eleven fixtures to fall into the lower half of the standings. Weak at dead-ball situations, again, impotent in attack, as before, with Alexander Isak replaced after sixty-eight uninfluential minutes, and vulnerable at the back, they failed in every area to fall to a consecutive 3-0 reverse.

Initial dominance lacking payoff

For the opening half-hour the Reds maintained the upper hand, the sporadic break from the Forest attacker apart, but the inability to turn promise into the tangible reward of finishes proved costly. the midfielder was presented with an initial opportunity from Gakpo's surge into the penalty area only for the Forest player to execute a brilliant goalline clearance with his head. He had a second shot deflected shortly after while dazzling control from the winger created another near-post opening for Milos Kerkez. An opposition player just did enough to put off the back into blazing over.

Set-play frailty hits again

Arne Slot has repeatedly bemoaned his side's susceptibility to fast breaks and dead balls in the current campaign. This provided new reason for frustration when Nottingham Forest opened the scoring through a blend of the both aspects.

The Forest manager was shocked after Jesus failed to release the midfielder in room on the fast attack and presented the defender a chance to clear. The following corner triggered celebratory moments in the away team's area, though, when the midfielder's cross touched Van Dijk to the defender and the centre-half fired an unstoppable strike from six yards into the opposite side. This evoked echoes of the defender's disallowed strike against the champions in the visitors' opener with Dan Ndoye standing in an illegal position in front of Anfield's recovered keeper the goalie.

VAR decisions and dispute

As expected, the Liverpool captain was quick to point out the comparisons to the match official, Madley. In contrast to Andy Robertson at the Etihad Stadium, Dan Ndoye made no apparent gesture in front of Alisson and the strike stood. Officials stated: "The referee's call of goal was reviewed and upheld by the assistant – with it deemed that the player was away from the line of vision of the keeper and did not make an move that affected an opponent."

Liverpool were let off by the match officials and VAR 120 seconds later when the striker was convinced he had increased Forest's advantage.

Ibrahima Konaté, who experienced a dreadful day, made an feeble try to deal with an the midfielder's delivery and directed the object against the attacker, who brought down before finding the bottom corner of the keeper's net. Andrew Madley, in communication with his assistant referee, ruled out the attempt for a handling that several footage struggled to prove or disprove. The authority stated: "The decision of no goal was checked and upheld by the video assistant – with it considered that Jesus accidentally touched the object before netting."

Another strike widens lead

Any hope from the reprieve. Moments of the resumption Alexis Mac Allister did not stop a ball towards Neco Williams inside the Liverpool penalty area. The former Liverpool defender evaded from his marker and presented their next goal on a plate for partner defender the scorer, who located Alisson's top corner with a simple accurate strike.

Tactical changes do not work

Liverpool's coach went for broke, substituting the defender with Ekitiké after just before the hour and using the Les Bleus forward alongside Alexander Isak. That experiment lasted all of less than a quarter-hour before Alexander Isak was substituted following one more ineffective performance. Chiesa and Ngumoha were also introduced to the Anfield's frontline but sloppiness in ball control and resolute opposition backline prevented the home side at distance.

Concluding strike wraps up the result

Nottingham Forest showed the precision and incisiveness that the hosts were missing in the final third to seal the match {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively