Key events
Post-match postbag. “Regarding Dechlan’s comments (76th minute) I think that’s incredibly unfair on Slot. He turned Gravenberch into arguably the best number six in the country in the title-winning season, and he was voted young player of the year. As for alienating Trent and Robbo, he managed them to a league title! Weird way to alienate players. I think everybody knows Trent wanted to go, and if you still think Robbo was the Robbo of old, you clearly didn’t watch much Liverpool last season!” – Simon in Belfast
“Liverpool are slowing getting the fighting spirit back, which was drained out of them last season. This season will be chaotic, but entertaining for sure. All in for Iraola!” – Rupak Pramanik
“Shocked to see the gaps in this team after a ginormous spend. Seems concerning to go in Kerkez and Frimpong at LB and RB. To think we still need a CDM, LB and RB for a decent team after all the spend is surprising” – Madan Raja
“Apologies, I was very wrong earlier in the pre-match postbag; they need at least ten” – Dave Estherby
“Never mind your Flamenco football, watching Liverpool so far this season is more like suffering through a Morris-dancing festival” – Justin Kavanagh
Now then, what’s that done to the Premier League table? Not much. Liverpool remain in 10th spot, while Forest rise to 12th. For now. Give it a couple of hours.
Alexander Isak, who scored his fourth Premier League goal for Liverpool in his tenth start for the club, speaks to TNT Sports. “There is no problem in the fighting spirit … we showed that last week as well … we started the game really bad today as well … when we gained momentum, that’s where we need to be … we conceded quite quickly after that … it’s always good to get something out of a game … there’s always time to get used to a new playing style … we are really working hard to play the game he wants us to play … when we start doing that better, I have no doubt the results will come … I am obviously happy to score … every striker wants to score every game he plays … obviously that’s difficult but each game at a time … our fans were amazing … really happy to be back here at home and can’t wait to be back here again.”
Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner shake hands, but neither man looks particularly happy. Liverpool again didn’t play well … but on the other hand, Alexander Isak scored a rare goal while Victor Munoz announced himself with an absolute belter, and for the second week in a row, a draw was salvaged. Forest meanwhile earned the big ovation they’re getting from their fans with a staunch performance, and Liam Delap turned in an exciting cameo … though having come so close to their first win of the campaign will sting a little. So it’s swings and roundabouts. Fun match, though; the return at the City Ground is scheduled for 17 April, so scribble that one into your new 2027 diary.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 2-2 Nottingham Forest
A first point of the season for Forest; a second 2-2 draw for Liverpool.
90 min +5: On TNT, Ally McCoist names James McAtee as his player of the match.
90 min +4: Ngumoha loops in from the left. Sels claims and flops to the floor. That might be it.
90 min +3: Munoz and Szoboszlai take turns to cross from the right. Forest deal with both balls.
90 min +2: A double change for Forest, as McAtee and Jesus are replaced by Hudson-Odoi and Dominguez.
90 min +1: Jesus fouls Szoboszlai 35 yards out on the right. The Liverpool vice-captain gets up and takes it himself. In it goes. Also going: the whistle, for some overly excitable work from Isak and Gravenberch.
90 min: There will be five additional minutes.
88 min: Liverpool have had 72 percent possession in the last ten minutes. It’s noisy at Anfield … but also tense. It’s been a really entertaining match.
86 min: Szoboszlai catches the free kick well, but it flies inches wide of the right-hand post. Sels may well have had it covered.
85 min: Gravenberch turns into space and is dragged down by Milenkovic. A free kick just to the left of the Forest D, and Szoboszlai’s eyes light up.
83 min: Forest try to respond immediately, Delap steaming down the inside-left and shooting from the edge of the box. Araujo slides in to deflect wide left, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-2 Nottingham Forest (Munoz 82)
So much for comfortable! Wirtz finds a little pocket of space, 30 yards out, and slips a pass down the inside right for Munoz, who takes one touch to spin through 180 degrees and whistle a rising drive across Sels, off the underside of the bar, and into the top left! What a blooter! Can the MBM claim an assist?
81 min: Liverpool press Forest back. No way through. Forest appear happy to sit and soak things up. They look comfortable.
79 min: Munoz comes dancing in from the right and should shoot … but doesn’t. Jesus counters down the left and is cynically brought down by Araujo, who hasn’t taken long to find his way into the book.
78 min: Szoboszlai curls a looping cross in from the right. It drops to Isak, who tries to shift his feet when a first-time shot with his right was the only option. The ball sails harmlessly away from danger.
77 min: Liverpool make two more changes, replacing Jacquet and Mac Allister with Araujo and Nyoni.
76 min: Munoz bursts into space down the left and goes over in the vague environs of Aina, who is on a booking. The referee doesn’t give a free kick … but doesn’t give Munoz a second booking for diving either. All a bit odd. “Arne Slot’s legacy will be his abject failure to integrate any defenders/defensive midfielders while simultaneously alienating players like Robertson, TAA etc.,” opines Dechlan Brennan. “The result is what Liverpool offer in defence now.”
74 min: Tsimikas has a dig from distance, and slams his shot straight into the ground. No need for Liverpool to get quite so desperate yet.
73 min: Ngumoah is 18 years old today. Happy birthday?
71 min: A stunned Liverpool make their triple change. Kerkez, Frimpong and Gakpo make way for Gravenberch, Tsimikas and Ngumoah.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-2 Nottingham Forest (Gibbs-White 70 pen)
Gibbs-White, to a cacophony of whistling, smashes the spot kick into the left-hand portion of the net. Alisson was sent the wrong way. Gibbs-White celebrates by sticking his fingers in his ears. Forest are at it again!
69 min: Alisson is booked for the challenge. He’s not happy, presumably with the delay of the Liverpool subs, because he surely can’t have any argument over the challenge, which wiped out Williams.
Penalty for Forest
68 min: Iraola is fuming, because the fourth official hasn’t got his act together with the sub boards, and the game restarts. Delap takes a quick thrown down the left for Williams, who tries to chip Alisson. The ball sails wide right, but he’s clattered by Alisson and the referee points to the spot!
67 min: Gakpo again crosses long … too long. And it looks like Liverpool are finally going to make that triple change.
66 min: The first change of the afternoon, as Forest new boy Delap comes on for Ndoye.
65 min: From a deep position on the left, Wirtz launches a diagonal for Isak, who can’t quite get the ball under control. Goal kick. Isak would have probably been flagged offside anyway.
63 min: Szoboszlai hoicks a wild shot over the bar from 25 yards. Meanwhile there had been some action on the Liverpool bench – Iraola was preparing a triple change – but the goal has put paid to that for the time being, and everyone’s sat down again.
61 min: Kerkez rakes a long diagonal to Gakpo down the right. Gakpo takes a heavy touch and is shepherded out of play. Goal kick. The Kop continues to bounce nevertheless.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Isak 60)
Wirtz rolls a pass down the inside-right channel for Gakpo, who spins past two defenders at once, strides into the box, and rolls across for Isak, who can’t miss from a couple of yards. Out of nothing, Liverpool are level, and Anfield is making some noise again!
58 min: Murillo breaks from the back down the middle, and is cynically tripped by Wirtz. Perhaps something he should have thought about when Wissa was steaming upfield at the Toon last weekend.
57 min: Gakpo crosses long from the right. Too long. Throw to Forest. The Kop groans loudly. And from that red nightmare, to this from pop-picker Stephen McCrossan: “Further to Peadar de Burca’s comment about Sorcerer, the film also benefits from an absolutely brilliant soundtrack by German synth behemoths Tangerine Dream.”
55 min: Ndoye makes good down the left, reaches the byline, and whistles a low cross along the corridor of uncertainty. Alisson is stranded, but Gibbs-White hasn’t continued his run. Had he kept up, he’d be tapping home.
54 min: Munoz is booked for dissent, having just been penalised for shoving over Cunha. Liverpool are already showing signs of irritation, Van Dijk having just bollocked Kerkez for not standing in the right place.
53 min: Frimpong slams two crosses into the nearest opponent in short order. Then on the opposite flank, Kerkez passes straight out of play. Liverpool missing Trent and peak Andy Robertson, it has to be said.
51 min: Aina is booked for smashing into Munoz on the left touchline. Szoboszlai looks for the head of Van Dijk with the resulting free kick, but Sels punches confidently clear.
49 min: Gakpo advances down the right and crosses long for Munoz, who heads harmlessly over. Then the flag pops up for offside. It’s been a lively start to the second half. “Have you seen the 1977 movie The Sorcerer?” asks Peadar de Burca. “No, it’s not a fantasy epic, but a gritty existential thriller about driving nitro glycerine through a jungle. Might be a worthwhile watch for all Liverpool fans this season.”
48 min: Munoz crosses from the left. Wirtz shapes to flick a shot goalwards, only for Williams to get in, just in time, to block. Forest counter, and Ndoye chases down the right, barges Frimpong out of the way – legally this time – only to scuff a shot wide right.
47 min: Szoboszlai wins a corner down the right, from which nothing comes.
46 min: Frimpong is shoved over by Ndoye, who races clear! Alisson parries the resulting shot, and then the whistle goes for the foul. Not sure why the referee waited. Not a dissimilar challenge to Liverpool’s first-half penalty shout, it should be noted.
Liverpool get the ball rolling again. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this second half, as is their wont. No changes.
Half-time postbag. “In a football related WhatsApp group I’m a part of, Liverpool are currently getting stick from a Spurs fan. That’s where we are. Barcola has his work cut out!” – Matt Dony
“Re the penalty shout, that’s a foul anywhere else on the field. But the ref (in the first half for sure) doesn’t want to give a pen and a red card – no attempt to play the ball. So… nothing” – Gary Naylor
“Bradley Barcola is currently googling ‘how to fail a medical’” – Niall Mullen
HALF TIME: Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest
Same old, same old. Forest are 45 minutes plus stoppages from completing a trifecta at Anfield.
45 min +3: Aina chops his way past Munoz down the right and cuts back for Jesus, who has a fierce whack from the penalty spot. The power is surely going to beat Alisson … but somehow the keeper turns the ball onto the crossbar and out for a corner! That’s an astonishing save! Nothing comes of the corner.
45 min +2: Frimpong combines crisply with Gakpo down the right, before hesitating over an opportunity to shoot from the edge of the box. He’s dispossessed. But he’s been Liverpool’s most lively player in an otherwise miserable half for the hosts.
45 min +1: The first of three additional first-half minutes plays out to almost pin-drop silence.
45 min: Gakpo nutmegs Williams down the right and cuts back for Szoboszlai, who dummies for Isak … but the striker can’t react, so Munoz takes a touch instead and powerfully curls towards the top right. It’s inches wide and high. As close as Liverpool have come, if you disregard the disallowed goal.
44 min: Mac Allister bursts away from Jesus, who lazily clatters him from behind and earns the first yellow card of the afternoon.
43 min: Forest aren’t giving Liverpool a moment’s peace. The hosts can’t get anything going.
41 min: Liverpool enjoy a period of prolonged possession in the Forest half … but the visitors hold their shape and there’s no way into the final third. The hosts getting frustrated with the low block: Forest now have Liverpool where they want them, coiled to counter at any given time.
39 min: Gakpo, who has been very quiet, crosses from the right. Wirtz rises and heads goalwards. Sels tips over the bar spectacularly. Nothing comes of the corner. But Liverpool have been better since going behind. They could scarcely have been any worse, to be fair.
38 min: Mac Allister nicks Ndoye to the ground and Liverpool are fortunate nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Liverpool need a defensive midfielder, like this hasn’t been news for about four years.
36 min: Forest are on the attack, but Wirtz controls a clearing header and dinks a cute pass down the left. Munoz is off, flying! He makes it all the way to the Forest box before feeling Cunha’s hand on his back. He goes over, but doesn’t get the penalty he wants. You’ve seen them given, because it wouldn’t have taken much to knock Munoz off his feet, the speed at which he was travelling. Anfield livid.
NO GOAL. Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest
Turns out Frimpong was a smidgen offside when retrieving Wirtz’s initial miscontrol. His ankle ahead of Aina in the middle. That’s a shame for Wirtz, who really needs a goal. Will the episode give Liverpool a semblance of succour, though?
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Wirtz 32)
Out of nothing! Frimpong takes matters into his own hands, dribbling hard down the inside-right channel. He looks for Wirtz, who miscontrols, but Frimpong comes back and finds his man at the second attempt. Wirtz swivels and whips into the bottom left corner. Anfield erupts!