Liverpool 2-2 Nottingham Forest

Isak 60'                    Ndoye 24'

Munoz 82'               Gibbs-White 70' (Pen)

In Forest’s last 2 visits to Anfield, they have come out on top; something older generations had waited 55 years to see whilst the new generation now expect to go there and pick up points. But, they have never won there three times in a row. Could Forest make history or would Liverpool take the points?

Iraola was kicking off his first competitive home game since becoming the Liverpool boss. Last weekend, they started their season at St James’ Park where they drew 2-2 with Newcastle. The manager named 2 changes from this fixture as Gravenberch and Ngumoha were replaced by Mac Allister and Munoz respectively. History was on the hosts side today: they have won their first Premier League game at home in the last 12/13 seasons and haven’t lost in their opening fixture at Anfield since 2002/04, remaining unbeaten in 22 years. Statistics remained on Liverpool’s side as Forest have only won their opening away fixture in just 1 of the last 8 seasons. The visitors have had a poor start to life under Oliver Glasner. Their opener against Leeds saw them lose late on thanks to a Stach free kick. The Yorkshire club returned 3 days later in the Carabao Cup to pick up a 2-0 victory and book their place into the next round. Glasner named one change from last Saturday as Schlager came in to replace the injured Sangare. New signing, Liam Delap was named as a substitute. Starman Morgan Gibbs-White was a doubt as he missed the midweek fixture but he recovered in time to give his side a boost.

Since Forest’s return to the Premier League, no side has won more league games against Liverpool. Were the tricky trees going to extend this record?

In the opening 10 minutes, both sides had the opportunity to take the lead but great tackles from Williams up one end and Jacquet down the other kept the scores level. Mac Allister played a lovely ball to Gakpo in the box. The winger had his back towards goal so turned but before he could get his shot off, Williams came sliding in. In front of the KOP, Aina lofted in a cross from the right. It was met by Ndoye at the far post who headed down for Jesus in a more central position. The Brazilian looked to flick it into the net from close range but Jacquet came across with an outstretched leg to block the effort.

This chance has really sparked Forest into life and they were getting in behind the Liverpool defence and causing problems, with Ndoye being the key to this. Aina had the ball out on the right and found McAtee in space on the edge of the box. He turned and chipped the ball towards the far left post where Ndoye was making a run. He headed down, hoping the ball would nestle into the bottom right corner but it bounced narrowly wide.

Liverpool hadn’t registered a shot in the opening 20 minutes and they were made to pay as Forest took the lead. Looking to build again from the back, the ball was played to Sels who hoofed it up the pitch. Jesus had made a run and managed to keep himself onside and bring it down. Mac Allister tried to pinch it but the striker held it up whilst waiting for support. He passed back to Gibbs-White before the Englishman laid it off to Ndoye to the left of him. Ndoye took a touch before firing into the bottom right corner. This is his first goal for the club since the opening day of the last Premier League season. Forest have now scored in their last 11 league away games, the longest ongoing run in the Premier League.

The hosts haven’t won when conceding first since January but they did think they’d levelled through Wirtz. The visitors struggled to clear on the edge of their own box allowing Frimpong to pinch the ball and find Wirtz. He turned and finished into the bottom left corner but after a VAR check, Frimpong had come back from an offside position, meaning the goal was chalked off. This had really fired up Liverpool as they pushed for a legal equaliser late on in the half. From the right, Gakpo whipped in a cross which was met by the head of Wirtz on the edge of the 6 yard box. Sels leapt up, pushing it over the bar with his fingertips. In the dying minutes, Gakpo received the ball on the right again and got beyond Williams to break into the box on the byline. He pulled it back where Isak was waiting but the striker had taken a heavy touch so he couldn’t get a shot off. Luckily, the ball to fell to his teammate Munoz who looked to curl the ball into the top right corner first time but his effort sailed just over the crossbar.

The first half drama wasn’t over yet. Murillo fizzed out a lovely ball to Aina on the right who darted for the byline after bringing it down. He skipped past Munoz to get into the box before pulling it back to Jesus. The striker ran onto the ball to get his shot off first time but he was denied by a brilliant save from Alisson. Forest had defended resolutely whilst also hurting Liverpool on the break, meaning they went into half time with a deserved lead. The Reds are unbeaten in their last 19 games when going into the break ahead, including their 2 previous visits to Merseyside.

The second 45 started how the first ended; lively and animated. Liverpool were pushing to take the lead but Forest had moments on the counter after winning back possession. It could’ve been described like a basketball match. But out of nowhere, the hosts did find a leveller. Wirtz played the ball to Gakpo with his back towards goal on the top right corner of the box. He was being tightly marked by both Murillo and Williams but the latter dived in, allowing Gakpo to turn and break into the box. He pulled the ball across the box begging for it to be tapped in which Isak did at the far post. Despite his poor form in a Liverpool shirt, it just had to be him, as that’s his 7^th goal in 6 matches against Forest.

However, this lead didn’t last long as Gibbs-White stepped up when his side needed him. Yet again this half, Forest looked to break on the counter, this time through debutant Delap, but Jacquet got there first to put the ball out for a throw in. Williams was joining Delap in the attack and he continued his run into the box even whilst the ball was out of play. His new teammate saw this run and took a quick throw in. Williams and Alisson both wanted to get there first but it was the Welshman who did, looking to chip the goalkeeper. The ball didn’t go in but after he got the shot off, Alisson took Williams out and the referee awarded Forest a penalty. Gibbs-White was in charge of the spot kick and fired into the left side of the net, sending Alisson the wrong way. Forest have now scored their last 10 penalties in the Premier League, with their captain scoring 5 of them to keep his 100% record in the league.

There was some controversy following the goal as moments before Liverpool wanted to make changes but the substitute boards weren’t working. Potentially if they had managed to make those substitutions, the incident wouldn’t have happened. Iraola may have been quick to forget about it though as his side managed to come back from a goal down again. Munoz had made an unmarked run down the right of the box which was spotted by Wirtz. The Spaniard took a touch and turned before firing a shot at goal. Luckily, it bounced off the crossbar and down into the net. The hosts pushed for a late winner but Forest stayed resolute to take points from Anfield in a 3^rd successive season.

Saturday was a much improved performance to what we saw in the 2 Leeds games. We was managing to hit Liverpool really well on the counterattack, especially through Ndoye who was a threat all game and I think that goal will really boost his confidence. As well as looking better in an attacking sense, we also managed to see off the pressure that Liverpool were putting us under and we defended as a team. A standout for me was McAtee who really stepped up in that midfield, breaking up the play and playing some lovely passes. We have to hope to keep these performances and I think we’ll start picking up more points.

Liverpool: Alisson; Kerkez (Tsimikas 71’), van Dijk, Jacquet (Araujo 77’), Frimpong (Gravenberch 71’); Szoboszlai, Mac Allister (Nyoni 77’); Munoz, Wirtz, Gakpo (Ngumoha 71’); Isak

Forest: Sels; Murillo, Milenkovic, Cunha; Williams, McAtee (Dominguez 90’), Schlager, Aina (Netz 86’); Ndoye (Delap 66’), Gibbs-White; Igor Jesus (Hudson-Odoi 90’)