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Nottingham Forest's win at Anfield the previous campaign seemed an anomaly in an otherwise strong English top division home record for the Merseyside club. A second successive win in the current campaign, a far more convincing triumph under Sean Dyche, was symptomatic of the challenges engulfing the struggling title holders.

The visitors' superb showing

Forest were impressive as they achieved their biggest triumph at Liverpool's home. Scores from the Brazilian, outstanding at each end of the field, the full-back and the magnificent Gibbs-White inspired a deserved win for a Forest side that also kept a initial shutout in 20 division fixtures.

Liverpool's struggles

The Reds, by contrast, were a disorganized as they suffered an 8th defeat in 11 games to drop into the second tier of the table. Ineffective at set pieces, repeatedly, unproductive in the final third, consistently, with the striker substituted after 68 uninfluential moments, and vulnerable at the back, they failed in every area to succumb to a second successive 3-0 reverse.

Initial control without payoff

For the opening half-hour the home side maintained the upper hand, the infrequent break from Morgan Gibbs-White aside, but the inability to turn promise into the hard currency of goals hurt them significantly. the midfielder was presented with an early-on opening from Gakpo's run into the penalty area only for Anderson to execute a superb goalline clearance with his forehead. He had a another effort deflected moments later while dazzling skill from Salah produced another near-post opportunity for the defender. An opposition player just succeeded to pressure the defender into firing over.

Set-play weakness afflicts once more

Liverpool's coach has frequently criticized the team's susceptibility to transitions and set pieces this season. This provided new reason for concern when the visitors opened the scoring through a blend of the two.

Sean Dyche was surprised after Igor Jesus failed to release Nicolás Domínguez in space on the fast attack and gave the defender opportunity to intercept. The resulting corner kick triggered celebratory moments in the visitors' bench, nevertheless, when the midfielder's cross glanced off Van Dijk to Murillo and the defender drilled an unstoppable strike from close range into the far corner. This evoked similarities of the captain's chalked-off strike against the champions in the visitors' opener with Dan Ndoye standing in an offside in front of Anfield's fit-again keeper the Brazilian.

Video Assistant Referee decisions and controversy

As expected, the the skipper was swift to mention the comparisons to the official, Andrew Madley. In contrast to Andy Robertson at the City's ground, Ndoye made no clear gesture in front of the goalkeeper and the strike remained. The Premier League stated: "The initial ruling of a score was reviewed and upheld by the video system – with it considered that he was outside of the view of the goalkeeper and did not make an action that influenced an player."

Liverpool were reprieved by the match officials and the system 120 seconds later when Igor Jesus thought he had added to Nottingham Forest's lead.

Ibrahima Konaté, who suffered a poor match, made an feeble effort to deal with an the midfielder's ball and directed the ball against the Forest striker, who handled before finding the bottom corner of Alisson's net. The referee, in communication with his assistant referee, disallowed the effort for a illegal use of hand that several reviews found it hard to confirm or deny. The Premier League announced: "The decision of invalid score was reviewed and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that Jesus accidentally touched the ball before finishing."

Follow-up strike widens cushion

That was the end of the let-off. Moments of the kick-off Mac Allister failed to stop a pass towards Neco Williams inside the home box. The former Liverpool defender evaded from his defender and presented the visitors' second on a plate for fellow wing-back Nicolò Savona, who picked out the keeper's upper corner with a composed accurate strike.

Strategic adjustments prove ineffective

The manager took risks, substituting Ibrahima Konaté with Ekitiké after 55 minutes and partnering the France attacker with Isak. This change persisted all of less than a quarter-hour before Alexander Isak was withdrawn following one more ineffective performance. Federico Chiesa and Ngumoha were further added to the Anfield's frontline but sloppiness in possession and sturdy opposition backline kept the Reds at distance.

Late blow confirms the outcome

Forest displayed the precision and cutting edge that the home team were without in the opposition half to seal the match {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively