Nottingham Forest and Liverpool will share the spoils at the City Ground on Tuesday night, and emotions will be mixed between supporters of both sides. Forest took the lead in the 8th minute with a goal from Chris Wood, while the Reds equalized with a goal from Diogo Jota in the 66th minute, shortly after the Portugal international came on from the bench.
team
There were few problems with the team, and both managers named arguably their strongest lineup as starters.
Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo was only without midfielder Ibrahim Sangare. Mats Sells was in goal, with Jesus Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic forming a centre-back partnership. Former Liverpool full-back Neco Williams played on the left, with Ola Aina covering the defense on the right. Ryan Yates and Elliott Anderson are strong in midfield, with the pace of wingers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga complemented by the skill of Morgan Gibbs-White in the number 10 role, and striker Wood. was fully supported.
As for Liverpool, head coach Arne Slott was unable to call up defender Joe Gomez due to injury and striker Darwin Nunez due to suspension. With Alisson Becker between the posts, Virgil van Dijk was flanked by Ibrahima Konate in the heart of defence, flanked by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. Ryan Gravenbirch and Alexis Mac Allister formed a midfield pairing, with Dominik Szoboszlai even better. Mohamed Salah attacked from the right, Kodi Gakpo attacked from the right and Luis Diaz played in the ‘false nine’, which has now become his usual role.
Forest starts well
As expected, Liverpool had no problems dominating the ball, but found it extremely difficult to break through the home team’s tightly packed lines. Their initiative was wasted time and time again for long stretches, but when Forest’s first opportunity to fight back presented itself, they took advantage of it.
Hudson-Odoi picked up the ball and sent it to Elanga, who then took advantage of Konate’s poor positioning and slotted it to the left. Eranga quickly found a striker and with Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold unable to close the ranks quickly, Wood fired a low shot past Alisson and put his team ahead. It was the Forest striker’s 13th league goal of the season, putting him fourth in the league scoring table alongside Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and Brentford’s Brian Mbuumo.
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Premier League leaders, who had fallen in the standings, were immediately filled with dissatisfaction. Forest players often heightened that sense by playing hard and physical in the middle of the park, which referee Chris Kavanagh allowed. Szoboszlai, Salah and Gakpo’s faces at times showed anger as they felt they had been fouled for a foul they didn’t deserve. Lacking concentration, Liverpool’s passing became erratic and the game went pretty much the way Espirito Santo and the team wanted.
Liverpool fight back
It’s certainly not the first time Liverpool have conceded first, and they’ve proven their adaptability time and time again. Immediately after the break it was clear that they were getting more aggressive. It quickly matched that of Forest, and now it was their turn to benefit from Kavanagh’s standards, which allowed for difficult challenges in the middle of the park. However, they still struggled to create chances, failing to get a single shot on target until the 66th minute when Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas left the bench.
The double substitution from the slot was quite interesting. There were no surprises when Tsimikas replaced Robertson on the left defensive flank, but eyebrows were raised when defender Konate was replaced by forward Jota. And within seconds, the changes made by the Liverpool manager had consequences.
The substitutions were made after a corner kick from the right wing was awarded to the away team. Tsimikas took it straight away and recorded an assist with his first touch as Jota’s first touch sent the ball into the back of the net. In fact, it was a trademark goal for the Portuguese attacker, who managed to use the little space between the towering players Murillo and Milenkovic to score from close range.
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Having finally scored against Nottingham Forest, Liverpool pushed hard for a win, but in very uncharacteristic fashion Salah squandered some golden chances, forcing a striker in the Forest. Gall made a series of great saves and the scoreline remained the same until the end. end.
Ranking
Liverpool remain at the top of the Premier League with 47 points from 20 games. Chelsea and Manchester City dropped points against Bournemouth and Brentford respectively this weekend, further highlighting Arsenal’s status as Liverpool’s widely seen rivals for the title. Forest should not be forgotten either, as they currently sit second in the table with 41 points from 21 games, but the Gunners will need to beat neighbors Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby on the 26th to overtake Forest and take on Liverpool. They will have a chance to reduce the gap to just four points. Sunday.
However, Liverpool still have a game in hand, with the postponed Merseyside derby against Everton scheduled for February 12th. Slott and his team are clearly still in a very good position to equal Manchester United’s record of 20 league wins, but with two draws in a row now, a win is in the cards when they host Ipswich Town next week. will need to get back on track. Before that, Liverpool will face LOSC Lille in the Champions League.
Like Liverpool, Forest shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up all the points from their next league game when Southampton come to the City Ground next week. At this point in the season, their fans will look at the table and not believe their eyes, but Esprito Santo and his players certainly deserve where they are.
