Anfield's team in disarray as the visitors storm their fortress once more with three-nil triumph

Nottingham Forest's victory here the previous campaign appeared a one-off in an otherwise commanding Premier League home campaign for the hosts. This recurrence in the current campaign, a decisively stronger success under their manager, was a clear sign of the challenges engulfing the faltering former winners.

Forest's superb display

Nottingham Forest proved impressive as they secured their most significant win at Anfield. Goals from the defender, excellent at either side of the pitch, Savona and the superb Gibbs-White inspired a well-earned win for a Forest side that also maintained a initial shutout in twenty division games.

The home side's woes

The hosts, on the other hand, were a disorganized as they experienced an eighth setback in eleven fixtures to fall into the bottom half of the league. Poor at set pieces, again, ineffectual in the final third, again, with Alexander Isak withdrawn after 68 uninfluential minutes, and defensively weak, they failed in each phase to succumb to a back-to-back heavy defeat.

Initial pressure lacking reward

For the opening half-hour Liverpool held the advantage, the sporadic break from Morgan Gibbs-White excepted, but the inability to convert chances into the hard currency of finishes hurt them significantly. Alexis Mac Allister was presented with an initial opening from the forward's run into the area only for the Forest player to deliver a excellent desperate block with his skull. Mac Allister had a second shot stopped moments later while impressive skill from Salah set up another close-range opportunity for Kerkez. The visiting defender just managed to disturb the full-back into blazing over.

Set-piece vulnerability afflicts again

The manager has often bemoaned his side's weakness to counterattacks and set pieces in the current campaign. This provided further evidence for frustration when Nottingham Forest took the lead through a blend of the each weakness.

Dyche was aghast after Igor Jesus failed to find Domínguez in space on the counter and allowed Konaté a chance to clear. The ensuing corner kick caused ecstatic moments in the Forest dugout, however, when the midfielder's cross deflected off Virgil van Dijk to the goalscorer and the centre-half drilled an unbeatable finish from inside the box into the far corner. It brought reminders of the defender's chalked-off strike against Manchester City in the Forest's opener with the forward located in an offside in front of Anfield's fit-again shot-stopper Alisson.

VAR rulings and dispute

Predictably, the Van Dijk was quick to mention the similarities to the referee, the ref. However, unlike Andy Robertson at the Etihad Stadium, Ndoye made no apparent gesture in front of the goalkeeper and the strike stood. The league clarified: "The initial ruling of a score was checked and verified by the video system – with it considered that Ndoye was not in the line of vision of the goalkeeper and made no an action that influenced an opponent."

The Reds were let off by the referees and video review two minutes after when Jesus thought he had increased the visitors' lead.

Konaté, who suffered a poor afternoon, made an unconvincing effort to remove an Sangaré's cross and turned the sphere against the attacker, who controlled before placing the net of the keeper's net. Madley, in contact with his assistant referee, chalked off the effort for a handling that various footage found it hard to verify or deny. League officials stated: "The ruling of no goal was checked and upheld by the system – with it deemed that Igor Jesus accidentally handled the object before netting."

Follow-up strike widens advantage

That was the end of the respite. Moments of the kick-off Mac Allister was unable to intercept a delivery towards Williams inside the home penalty area. The former Liverpool defender spun away from his opponent and set up their next goal on a platter for partner full back Nicolò Savona, who picked out the goalkeeper's roof of the net with a composed side-foot finish.

Strategic substitutions fail

Arne Slot took risks, substituting the defender with the forward after 55 minutes and partnering the French attacker with the Swede. This change persisted all of less than a quarter-hour before Alexander Isak was replaced following another quiet performance. Chiesa and the youngster were further introduced to the Liverpool attack but inefficiency in play and resolute Forest defending prevented the Reds at distance.

Final goal seals the victory

Nottingham Forest demonstrated the finesse and incisiveness that Liverpool were without in the final third to seal the match {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively