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The away side's success at Anfield last season appeared a one-off in an usually dominant Premier League performances at Anfield for the Merseyside club. Their repeat this season, a much more emphatic success under the Forest boss, was symptomatic of the issues plaguing the struggling champions.

Forest's superb display

The team was exemplary as they secured their biggest win at Anfield. Goals from the Brazilian, excellent at both ends of the pitch, the full-back and the exceptional the playmaker inspired a well-earned win for a team that also kept a first clean sheet in twenty division matches.

The home side's difficulties

The hosts, by contrast, were a chaotic as they endured an 8th setback in eleven fixtures to fall into the bottom half of the league. Poor at dead-ball situations, repeatedly, ineffectual in offense, as before, with Alexander Isak replaced after sixty-eight uninfluential minutes, and poor in defense, they failed in every area to succumb to a second successive three-nil loss.

Initial dominance missing result

For the opening half-hour Liverpool maintained the upper hand, the sporadic break from Gibbs-White apart, but the shortcoming to capitalize on opportunities into the tangible reward of goals cost them dearly. Alexis Mac Allister was presented with an early opening from the forward's drive into the area only for Elliot Anderson to deliver a brilliant desperate block with his forehead. The Liverpool midfielder had a follow-up attempt deflected soon after while impressive control from Mohamed Salah set up another short-distance opportunity for Kerkez. The visiting defender just succeeded to disturb the back into blazing over.

Dead-ball vulnerability hits again

Arne Slot has frequently bemoaned his side's susceptibility to transitions and set-plays this season. There was fresh cause for concern when Forest scored first through a blend of the each weakness.

Dyche was shocked after the forward did not pass to the midfielder in room on the counter and allowed the defender a chance to intercept. The resulting corner sparked jubilant scenes in the Forest dugout, though, when Elliot Anderson's ball touched Van Dijk to the goalscorer and the centre-half drilled an unbeatable shot from six yards into the back of the net. This evoked reminders of Van Dijk's chalked-off strike against the champions in the visitors' initial score with Dan Ndoye located in an illegal position in front of Liverpool's recovered keeper the Brazilian.

Video Assistant Referee calls and debate

Unsurprisingly, the Liverpool captain was swift to mention the similarities to the match official, Andrew Madley. However, unlike Robertson at the Etihad Stadium, Ndoye made no obvious gesture in front of Alisson and the score stood. The Premier League confirmed: "The referee's call of goal was checked and upheld by the assistant – with it deemed that the player was not in the line of vision of Alisson and avoided an move that impacted an defender."

Liverpool were reprieved by the officiating team and VAR a short time following when Igor Jesus believed he had increased Forest's lead.

Konaté, who suffered a terrible match, made an feeble attempt to deal with an the midfielder's ball and turned the object against the attacker, who brought down before slotting the net of Alisson's posts. Andrew Madley, in discussion with his linesman, chalked off the strike for a illegal use of hand that various footage struggled to prove or disprove. The authority said: "The referee's call of invalid score was assessed and confirmed by the system – with it judged that Jesus accidentally handled the ball before finishing."

Second strike widens advantage

That was the end of the reprieve. Within seconds of the kick-off Mac Allister did not intercept a delivery towards the defender inside the Anfield box. The full-back turned from his defender and set up the visitors' second on a plate for teammate full back Nicolò Savona, who located the keeper's top corner with a composed placed shot.

Strategic substitutions fail

Liverpool's coach took risks, bringing off the defender with Ekitiké after just before the hour and partnering the France attacker alongside Alexander Isak. The tactical shift continued just 13 minutes before Alexander Isak was replaced following another ineffective performance. Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha were additionally thrown into the Anfield's frontline but inefficiency in ball control and solid opposition backline held the home side at distance.

Late blow confirms the result

The visitors displayed the finesse and incisiveness that Liverpool were missing in the attacking phase to put the contest {beyond doubt|out of reach|conclusively