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The away side's victory here the previous campaign seemed an anomaly in an otherwise dominant Premier League performances at Anfield for Liverpool. This recurrence this season, a far more convincing triumph under their manager, was symptomatic of the challenges engulfing the faltering champions.

The visitors' superb display

Forest were exemplary as they recorded their largest victory at the famous ground. Scores from the Brazilian, superb at both ends of the field, Nicolò Savona and the superb Morgan Gibbs-White inspired a merited victory for a squad that also maintained a initial shutout in twenty division matches.

Liverpool's struggles

The hosts, on the other hand, were a disorganized as they endured an 8th defeat in 11 matches to drop into the bottom half of the table. Ineffective at set pieces, repeatedly, unproductive in attack, consistently, with the striker withdrawn after sixty-eight uninfluential moments, and poor in defense, they struggled in all departments to succumb to a consecutive heavy reverse.

Opening pressure missing reward

For the opening half-hour the home side held the upper hand, the sporadic counter from the Forest attacker excepted, but the inability to turn promise into the tangible reward of finishes cost them dearly. the midfielder was presented with an early-on opening from Gakpo's run into the area only for Elliot Anderson to produce a brilliant goalline clearance with his forehead. He had a second shot stopped soon after while skilful control from Salah set up another short-distance chance for Milos Kerkez. The visiting defender just did enough to pressure the full-back into firing over.

Set-play frailty hits again

The manager has frequently lamented his side's susceptibility to counterattacks and set-plays now. He was given further evidence for concern when Forest scored first through a mix of the both aspects.

The Forest manager was shocked after the forward was unable to release Nicolás Domínguez in room on the fast attack and allowed Konaté a chance to clear. The resulting corner caused ecstatic scenes in the Forest dugout, however, when the midfielder's delivery touched Van Dijk to the goalscorer and the central defender hammered an irresistible strike from close range into the opposite side. It brought similarities of the defender's chalked-off goal against City in the away team's initial score with the forward positioned in an offside in front of Anfield's recovered goalkeeper Alisson.

Video Assistant Referee decisions and debate

As expected, the the skipper was prompt to mention the comparisons to the referee, Madley. In contrast to Andy Robertson at the Etihad Stadium, the forward made no obvious gesture in front of Alisson and the score stood. Officials confirmed: "The on-field decision of a score was reviewed and upheld by VAR – with it deemed that he was away from the sightline of the goalkeeper and made no an interference that influenced an player."

The home side were reprieved by the match officials and the system two minutes after when Igor Jesus believed he had increased Nottingham Forest's cushion.

The defender, who experienced a poor afternoon, made an feeble attempt to remove an Ibrahim Sangaré's delivery and directed the sphere against the Forest striker, who brought down before finding the bottom corner of Alisson's net. Madley, in contact with his assistant referee, ruled out the strike for a handling that multiple replays struggled to prove or deny. The authority said: "The referee's call of invalid score was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it judged that the player unintentionally touched the object before netting."

Second goal widens advantage

So much for the respite. Moments of the restart Alexis Mac Allister failed to intercept a ball towards Williams inside the Anfield box. Williams turned from his marker and presented their next goal on a plate for teammate wing-back Nicolò Savona, who picked out Alisson's top corner with a composed side-foot finish.

Tactical changes fail

The manager went for broke, bringing off Konaté with Hugo Ekitiké after 55 minutes and partnering the Les Bleus attacker next to Isak. The tactical shift continued just a short period before the striker was replaced following one more quiet showing. the winger and the youngster were also thrown into the Liverpool attack but carelessness in play and solid opposition backline held the Reds at bay.

Final strike seals the result

Forest showed the skill and penetration that the home team were without in the opposition half to put the contest {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively