Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest: Player Ratings – Liverpool FC

The clean sheets, the comfortable victories and the all-round successful Arne-Slot love story came to a surprising end when the Reds were beaten 1-0 at Anfield. other The Reds and Nottingham Forest grab the points and incapacitate our attack.

Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest

Premier League (4), Anfield
14 September 2024

Goal: Hudson-Odoi 71′

Alisson – 6 (out of 10)

Had a nice view of the afternoon football game for about an hour and then was able to easily parry a ball bottom left.

He only had two things left to do in the game; unfortunately, that was his first goal conceded this season with a thunderous shot into the bottom corner before later making a one-on-one save from Elanga.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7 (Player of the Match)

A few good passes and a corner in the first half where he headed straight for the goal – but the ball was caught under the crossbar by the goalkeeper.

He made some good long-range passes in the second half and when Bradley asked to come on, eyebrows would have been raised – but Trent was instead pushed into midfield, this time in a genuine No.8 role in what quickly became a ‘real’ 4-3-3.

Kept the ball moving quickly enough, even if he wasn’t particularly creative. First full 90 minutes of the season, booked late. According to FotMob, he created four chances and 17 passes into the final third, the most of the game.

Ibrahima Konate – 6

He was strong in the air when we needed him and showed the recovery speed we sometimes rely on, but the goal came when he ran past and into him and finished into the far corner.

Virgil van Dijk – 7

Dominant in clearing away Forest’s consecutive high balls and set pieces, particularly towards the end of the first half.

He couldn’t contribute much other than what he did: he blocked a few dribbles and cleared whatever was needed. There were no major dangerous moments on his side. Headed just over the bar shortly before the end.

Andy Robertson – 4

In 50:50 games, fluid movements and overlapping runs, he always seemed to be a meter short, even when making a through ball that would have brought him into the penalty area.

Within a minute of coming on he was tackled by Elanga and booked. Not his best performance this season, he was probably lucky not to be substituted earlier.

Ryan Gravenberch – 6

He was back at base for most of the time and put in a strong performance with his recovery work and ability to get out of challenges, while a couple of long-range through balls were also the most advanced Liverpool could achieve at times.

Alexis MacAllister – 6

Some nice through balls and a shot on goal probably made him the standout player in the first half, but he was not all that remarkable and the difference to the rather quiet resumption of the Reds’ league game was not great.

He was substituted after an hour, but this may have had more to do with travelling during the international break and an injury he sustained while playing for Argentina than anything else.

Dominik Szoboszlai – 4

Made too many bad passes in the first half and held up the game more than once when the Reds could have benefited from a quicker ball distribution.

When Mac Allister started, he moved to the left of centre and managed nothing except a late shot that went just wide. A really poor performance.

Mo Salah – 4

Very quiet first half and towards the end he missed a great chance when his touch was not good enough to control a long pass.

He had a quick chance after the break with a turning dribble and a right-footed shot, but seemed to lose patience shortly afterwards and took a few wild misses.

Most annoying was his series of futile cross-passes across the penalty area, none of which found their target and wasted good positions.

Joao Pessoa – 6

He had a few moments where he cleverly connected the play or cleverly turned around to provoke a foul, while his best scoring opportunity came in the early periods of the game when he struck the goalkeeper with the inside of his foot from an unfortunate height.

A decent display of movement and effort, but never really a great goal threat or the ability to create chances for others.

Luis Diaz – 6

Great work to create a chance out of nowhere in the first half but it only grazed the post. He also almost scored a crazy header out of nowhere when the keeper dropped the ball between his own legs!

Overall, the game was not that explosive, but we also have to take into account the rigors of the trip to South America.

Substitute

Darwin Nunez (for Jota, 60′) – 5 – We needed his chaos, but only got his weak touches.

Cody Gakpo (for Diaz, 60′) – 5 – Offers absolutely nothing in terms of energy, creativity, speed or shooting.

Conor Bradley (for Mac Allister, 60.) – 4 – Beaten twice in 10 minutes by the same player, first on a big chance and then on a goal.

Kostas Tsimikas (for Robertson, 74.) – 5 – Strange half position for him, sort of a centre back but sometimes also on the outside. Didn’t work.

Curtis Jones (for Konate, 74.) – 5 – First appearance of the season, not much to show for it.

Unused substitutes: Kelleher, Gomez, Quansah, Endo

Arne Slott – 4

His first taste of the post-international break malaise that Liverpool loves to inflict on its fans.

He didn’t seem to be a big fan of it, as he gave the regular players 10 minutes after the break and then began preparing the team for a triple substitution.

We haven’t seen too many major tactical changes to Slot’s main plan, so this was a surprise in that respect: a switch with Trent in midfield, then another double substitution that sent us to a back three… sort of. It was a mess, I guess you could say.

In short, the bigger problem was the changes not working. Slot spoke this week about having to rotate more at Anfield than he did at Feyenoord; this type of game shows why that is so important – not only physically, but also to get better performances out of some players.

Whether it was through line-ups, substitutions or the team speech at half-time, Slot got no reaction from his team this time. This was the first time that this didn’t happen and the timing was not ideal: at home before the Champions League begins against a team from the bottom half of the table.

The honeymoon is over, now the realization of the task must set in. Slot must do it right immediately.