A historic occasion on Merseyside, just not the sort Arne Slot could celebrate. On a day when he could have become the first Liverpool manager ever to begin their reign with four wins, each garnished with a clean sheet, Nottingham Forest instead celebrated the victory that had eluded them at Anfield since 1969.
Callum Hudson-Odoi delivered a result that even Brian Clough’s European Cup-winning teams could not muster. As Liverpool paid tribute to Ron Yeats, after one of their greatest captains died at 86, Forest tasted victory at Anfield for the first time since beating a side that included the fearsome defender.
For Slot, though, there was the kind of rarity he must hope does not become a regularity. Jurgen Klopp only lost one league game at Anfield in each of his final two seasons in charge, none in the year before that. Slot has now been beaten at the second attempt.
More worryingly, perhaps, Nuno Espirito Santo may have found a blueprint to play against the Dutchman’s side. If one explanation is simply that Liverpool were poor, sluggish when they needed to be sharp with distinctly below-par performances from Dominik Szoboszlai, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah, a reason why they were a shadow of the side who cruised to victory over Manchester United lay in Forest’s tactics.
Liverpool lacked both fluency and control as Forest congested the middle of the pitch with five players employed as various types of central midfielders. If the challenge for Liverpool was to pass through them, they failed. Ryan Gravenberch had his most ineffectual game of the season so far. Nor did Liverpool move the ball quickly enough to isolate their wingers against the Forest full-backs, who offered the only width in the visiting starting 11.
Nuno chose a narrow 4-3-2-1 formation, benched his wingers and, having frustrated Liverpool, then unleashed them to devastating effect. They combined for the goal. Anthony Elanga found Hudson-Odoi with a cross-field ball, he escaped the attentions of Conor Bradley too easily and curled a shot past Alisson. It was a reward for Nuno’s decision to keep his match-winners in reserve, adding a counter-attacking threat by introducing both in swift succession.
And it could be deemed a game that was won in the dugouts, changed by the changes. Slot knows he is destined to be compared with Klopp for quite some time.
For much of last season, his predecessor proved a master of substitutions, conjuring a hosts of goals and assists from his replacements. Slot began his reign with a significant defensive switch, bringing on Ibrahima Konate for Jarell Quansah at Ipswich. Thereafter, he has had the luxury of turning to his bench when leading.
Not this time. Slot made a triple change on the hour, removing Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister, relocating Alexander-Arnold into midfield, introducing Bradley, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo. Yet it brought little benefit in attack while at the back Bradley struggled against the electric Hudson-Odoi. The catalytic changes instead came from Nuno.
And the closest Liverpool came to scoring was before then and courtesy of Forest’s mistakes. Diaz picked Ryan Yates’ pocket, cut in and drilled a shot against the foot of the post. Then Matz Sels, veering between excellence and error, somehow spilled Diaz’s looping header and watched it bounce between his legs; but, crucially, not over the line. But he made a terrific save from Jota’s header and denied Salah. However, Liverpool had 69.5 percent of possession but an xG of under one.
This was no all-out assault, lacking the blood and thunder of Klopp’s football. Until the final few weeks of last season, Liverpool specialised in coming from behind; not this time, though. Liverpool lost composure when Mac Allister went off and looked susceptible to the break. Elanga twice came close with shots after swift surges forward. Unlike so often in Klopp’s reign, there was no rousing conclusion from Liverpool.
The issues nevertheless began at the start. Slot has signalled a fondness for unchanged teams and, for the third successive game, he named the same 11. But perhaps he could have rotated more, beginning with some of the players who were not away on or exhausted by international duty or at least saving some legs for AC Milan and San Siro. Federico Chiesa, meanwhile, was not even named on a bench that included four defenders.
Ultimately, the outstanding display came from a defender: Forest centre-back Murillo, with summer signing Nikola Milenkovic impressing alongside him. As Liverpool surrendered their unbeaten record this season, Forest’s continues.
After back-to-back relegation struggles, they find themselves among the early-season pacesetters. After five points from a possible 75 at Anfield, they took all three. And after Slot’s perfect start, Forest suggested there could be more complications. Fine as Slot’s inheritance was, this was an afternoon when Liverpool missed Klopp.