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Forest's win at Anfield in the prior year appeared a one-off in an typically strong top-flight home record for the Merseyside club. Their repeat in the current campaign, a decisively stronger triumph under Sean Dyche, was symptomatic of the problems afflicting the declining former winners.

Nottingham Forest's exemplary showing

Nottingham Forest proved exemplary as they secured their largest win at Liverpool's home. Scores from the Brazilian, outstanding at each end of the field, Nicolò Savona and the exceptional Gibbs-White inspired a merited victory for a squad that also kept a initial shutout in twenty division matches.

Anfield's woes

Liverpool, on the other hand, were a mess as they experienced an eighth setback in 11 fixtures to fall into the bottom half of the standings. Weak at dead-ball situations, again, impotent in the final third, as before, with Isak replaced after sixty-eight anonymous moments, and defensively weak, they struggled in all departments to fall to a back-to-back 3-0 loss.

Initial pressure without reward

For half an hour the Reds enjoyed the upper hand, the sporadic attack from Gibbs-White apart, but the failure to convert chances into the actual outcome of scores cost them dearly. Mac Allister was offered an initial opening from Cody Gakpo's surge into the penalty area only for Elliot Anderson to deliver a superb desperate block with his skull. He had a follow-up attempt stopped moments later while impressive footwork from Salah produced another close-range opening for the defender. A Forest defender just did enough to put off the defender into sending high.

Dead-ball frailty afflicts again

Arne Slot has frequently criticized his side's susceptibility to transitions and set pieces this season. There was further evidence for complaint when Forest opened the scoring through a combination of the each weakness.

Sean Dyche was aghast after Igor Jesus did not release Domínguez in an open area on the break and allowed Ibrahima Konaté opportunity to intercept. The ensuing corner kick triggered celebratory moments in the Forest dugout, however, when Anderson's ball touched Virgil van Dijk to the goalscorer and the centre-half hammered an unstoppable shot from six yards into the back of the net. There were similarities of the defender's disallowed strike against City in the Forest's first goal with Dan Ndoye standing in an illegal position in front of Liverpool's returning keeper Alisson.

The review system decisions and debate

As expected, the Van Dijk was prompt to point out the similarities to the match official, Andrew Madley. But unlike Robertson at the Etihad Stadium, the forward made no obvious action in front of Alisson and the strike remained. Officials stated: "The initial ruling of valid strike was reviewed and confirmed by the assistant – with it deemed that Ndoye was outside of the line of vision of the goalkeeper and avoided an move that affected an opponent."

The Reds were let off by the match officials and video review two minutes following when Igor Jesus was convinced he had doubled Nottingham Forest's lead.

Ibrahima Konaté, who suffered a poor day, made an weak effort to remove an Ibrahim Sangaré's ball and deflected the sphere against the attacker, who controlled before slotting the bottom corner of Alisson's net. Andrew Madley, in discussion with his assistant, disallowed the attempt for a handball that multiple reviews struggled to verify or deny. The Premier League said: "The referee's call of no goal was assessed and supported by the video assistant – with it considered that Jesus unintentionally handled the sphere before netting."

Follow-up score increases lead

Any hope from the reprieve. Moments of the kick-off the midfielder did not cut out a pass towards Williams inside the Anfield penalty area. The full-back spun away from his opponent and set up the visitors' second on a plate for fellow wing-back the scorer, who located the keeper's top corner with a simple placed shot.

Tactical adjustments fail

Liverpool's coach took risks, replacing Ibrahima Konaté with the forward after 55 minutes and using the France forward next to the Swede. This change lasted for only a short period before the striker was withdrawn following another anonymous showing. Federico Chiesa and Ngumoha were additionally introduced to the Anfield's frontline but carelessness in play and solid opposition backline prevented the hosts at arm's length.

Concluding strike confirms the result

The visitors showed the finesse and cutting edge that Liverpool were missing in the attacking phase to seal the match {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively