Zonal Marking: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Liverpool

Liverpool continue their inconsistent form in the Premier League. A goal from Taiwo Awoniyi left Jürgen Klopp’s team on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline. The City Ground remains unconquered for Merseyside’s Anfield outfit in this competition.

The Reds were pushing for an equaliser in the final 15 minutes by bombarding Dean Henderson’s goal but he was immaculate.

Defence

Alisson Becker couldn’t have done much more to prevent Awoniyi’s tap-in strike. The ball rebouded off the post and went straight to the Nigerian, who wasted no time in killing it off. The number one was confident between the sticks, as was his counterpart at the other end of the pitch, who pulled off decent saves.

Liverpool’s backline was shaky and lacked concentration. Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk were at the heart of the defence. The former had a shocker, lost the ball on the halfway line thanks to Awoniyi’s pressure, and as a result resorted to foul. He was given a well-deserved yellow card for it. The latter did well in the defence but missed a golden chance for an equaliser.

James Milner got the nod over Trent Alexander-Arnold, didn’t disappoint and made some crucial defending. Thwarting Morgan Gibbs-White’s shot after a counter, but was later subbed for Alexander-Arnold. On the opposite side of the turf, Andy Robertson had rather a quiet game.

Score: 3

Midfield

Curtis Jones returned to the starting XI after overcoming his long-term weird healthy issues and partnered Fabinho in the middle of the park. His first Premier League appearance was forced after Thiago’s unexpected absence. He covered more distance than any other Liverpool player needs more time to increase his fitness levels.

Fabinho had little impact on the game. His performances have been below par this season and looks like a shadow of himself. Low-key up front and didn’t register any key passes.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson went on the pitch in the second half but didn’t change the flow of the match.

Score: 2

Attack

The Reds had 15 strikes in the final third, just seven of them were on target. Klopp must be concerned about the end product. The capability up front has been hampered again. Liverpool were without Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Thiago Alcantara, who came down with an ear infection. With that in mind, Mo Salah was struggling up top and missing the right wing. He was rather anonymous and cut off passes.

Dean Henderson came up trumps throughout 90 minutes. The final quarter of the clash was challenging for him, with Liverpool trying to push for an equaliser, but managed to keep a clean sheet.

Arguably, Roberto Firmino’s form has been a positive surprise and boosted the attack. However, today he had an off day, was droping deep in order to receiving passes but the link-up play with his team-mates didn’t click.

Elsewhere, Harvey Elliot created a brilliant chance for Fabio Carvalho in the first half but this was denied by Henderson’s superior save. Forest’s compact midfield and backline confined Liverpool’s creativity, that being said the intensity wasn’t there either.

Score: 2.5