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Nottingham Forest's success on Merseyside last season was a blip in an usually commanding Premier League performances at Anfield for the hosts. This recurrence this season, a much more emphatic success under their manager, was a clear sign of the problems afflicting the declining title holders.

Forest's exemplary showing

Forest were brilliant as they secured their largest victory at Anfield. Goals from the defender, superb at each end of the field, Nicolò Savona and the superb the playmaker led to a merited victory for a Forest side that also secured a maid clean sheet in twenty division matches.

Liverpool's woes

Liverpool, on the other hand, were a chaotic as they suffered an eighth loss in 11 matches to fall into the second tier of the table. Poor at set-plays, again, ineffectual in offense, as before, with Alexander Isak replaced after sixty-eight anonymous moments, and defensively weak, they struggled in all departments to fall to a second successive three-nil defeat.

Opening control missing reward

For the opening half-hour Liverpool held the initiative, the occasional counter from Morgan Gibbs-White aside, but the inability to convert chances into the hard currency of finishes cost them dearly. Mac Allister was offered an early-on chance from Cody Gakpo's surge into the box only for the Forest player to deliver a excellent goalline clearance with his forehead. He had a follow-up attempt deflected soon after while dazzling control from Salah set up another near-post chance for Kerkez. A Forest defender just succeeded to disturb the back into sending high.

Set-piece frailty afflicts again

The manager has repeatedly bemoaned Liverpool's vulnerability to transitions and set pieces now. There was fresh cause for complaint when Forest scored first through a mix of the two.

Dyche was aghast after Jesus failed to pass to the midfielder in an open area on the counter and presented the defender the opening to intercept. The following corner kick triggered jubilant scenes in the visitors' bench, nevertheless, when Anderson's cross touched Van Dijk to the goalscorer and the defender drilled an irresistible strike from six yards into the opposite side. This evoked reminders of Van Dijk's ruled out finish against the champions in the Forest's opener with Ndoye positioned in an illegal position in front of Anfield's recovered shot-stopper the Brazilian.

Video Assistant Referee rulings and dispute

Predictably, the Liverpool captain was swift to highlight the similarities to the referee, the ref. But unlike Robertson at the Manchester, Ndoye made no obvious movement in front of Alisson and the strike remained. Officials stated: "The on-field decision of goal was reviewed and verified by the video system – with it judged that the player was outside of the view of the goalkeeper and avoided an move that impacted an defender."

Liverpool were reprieved by the match officials and the system 120 seconds following when Jesus believed he had increased Nottingham Forest's cushion.

Ibrahima Konaté, who endured a terrible day, made an weak effort to remove an the midfielder's cross and turned the ball against the forward, who brought down before finding the bottom corner of Alisson's posts. The referee, in communication with his linesman, disallowed the attempt for a handling that multiple reviews found it hard to confirm or disprove. The authority announced: "The ruling of no goal was reviewed and upheld by the video assistant – with it deemed that the player inadvertently controlled the ball before scoring."

Another strike extends cushion

Any hope from the let-off. Moments of the restart the midfielder failed to stop a ball towards Neco Williams inside the home penalty area. The full-back turned from his marker and set up Forest's second on a silver platter for fellow defender Savona, who found the goalkeeper's top corner with a simple accurate strike.

Tactical substitutions do not work

Liverpool's coach made changes, bringing off Ibrahima Konaté with Hugo Ekitiké after the 55th minute and partnering the Les Bleus forward alongside Isak. That experiment persisted just 13 minutes before Alexander Isak was substituted following one more anonymous display. Chiesa and the youngster were additionally introduced to the Liverpool attack but carelessness in possession and resolute opposition backline prevented the Reds at arm's length.

Late strike wraps up the outcome

The visitors showed the skill and penetration that Liverpool were missing in the final third to decide the game {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively