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Forest's success at Anfield the previous campaign was a blip in an otherwise dominant top-flight performances at Anfield for Liverpool. This recurrence now, a far more convincing victory under Sean Dyche, was symptomatic of the challenges engulfing the faltering former winners.

Forest's exemplary display

Forest were impressive as they secured their biggest win at Anfield. Goals from the Brazilian, excellent at each end of the field, Savona and the superb Gibbs-White led to a deserved victory for a team that also maintained a initial shutout in 20 division fixtures.

Liverpool's woes

Liverpool, in comparison, were a mess as they suffered an 8th defeat in 11 matches to slide into the lower half of the table. Poor at set pieces, again, impotent in the final third, consistently, with the striker replaced after 68 uninfluential minutes, and defensively weak, they faltered in each phase to succumb to a consecutive three-nil defeat.

Initial dominance without payoff

For the opening half-hour Liverpool held the upper hand, the occasional break from Gibbs-White aside, but the failure to turn promise into the tangible reward of finishes hurt them significantly. the midfielder was offered an initial chance from Cody Gakpo's surge into the penalty area only for the Forest player to execute a excellent goalline clearance with his skull. He had a follow-up attempt deflected moments later while impressive control from Salah produced another close-range chance for Kerkez. A Forest defender just succeeded to put off the defender into blazing over.

Set-play vulnerability hits repeatedly

Liverpool's coach has often lamented his side's vulnerability to counterattacks and set-plays in the current campaign. There was further evidence for complaint when Forest took the lead through a mix of the two.

Dyche was shocked after the forward was unable to pass to Domínguez in an open area on the break and allowed the defender the opening to clear. The following set-piece caused ecstatic moments in the Forest dugout, however, when Elliot Anderson's delivery glanced off the captain to Murillo and the defender fired an unstoppable shot from six yards into the opposite side. There were echoes of the captain's ruled out goal against the champions in the visitors' opener with the forward located in an offside position in front of Liverpool's fit-again keeper Alisson.

VAR calls and debate

As expected, the Van Dijk was prompt to point out the similarities to the match official, Madley. However, unlike Robertson at the Manchester, Dan Ndoye made no clear movement in front of the keeper and the strike was given. The Premier League stated: "The initial ruling of goal was examined and verified by VAR – with it considered that he was outside of the line of vision of the keeper and did not make an action that impacted an player."

Liverpool were reprieved by the referees and video review a short time following when Igor Jesus was convinced he had increased Nottingham Forest's cushion.

The defender, who suffered a terrible afternoon, made an unconvincing attempt to remove an Ibrahim Sangaré's ball and turned the sphere against the Forest striker, who handled before finding the bottom corner of the goalkeeper's goal. Andrew Madley, in communication with his assistant, disallowed the attempt for a handball that various footage were unable to prove or deny. The Premier League stated: "The ruling of disallowed strike was checked and confirmed by the video assistant – with it considered that Igor Jesus inadvertently touched the object before finishing."

Another strike increases advantage

Any hope from the respite. Almost immediately of the kick-off Mac Allister did not cut out a pass towards Neco Williams inside the home penalty area. The former Liverpool defender turned from his opponent and presented their next goal on a plate for partner full back Nicolò Savona, who located Alisson's top corner with a simple accurate strike.

Managerial changes fail

The manager took risks, substituting Ibrahima Konaté with the forward after the 55th minute and partnering the French forward alongside Alexander Isak. The tactical shift persisted all of less than a quarter-hour before Alexander Isak was withdrawn following another quiet performance. Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha were further added to the hosts' offense but inefficiency in play and resolute visitors' defense kept the hosts at bay.

Final blow seals the outcome

Nottingham Forest showed the skill and cutting edge that the home team were missing in the attacking phase to put the contest {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively