Nottingham Forest pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the Premier League season, beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield to claim back-to-back league wins on this ground and breathe new life into their survival push. The result also deepens the crisis facing the defending champions, who have now suffered successive 3-0 home defeats.
Softfootball earlier reported that Sean Dyche has been working hard to rebuild competitive mentality within the Forest squad, pushing his players to believe they can turn their season around. That mentality was on full display here.
Liverpool entered the match under enormous pressure, with fans demanding a strong reaction after last week’s 3-0 humiliation against Manchester City. And to their credit, they started with real intensity.
A brilliant move nearly produced the opener inside 10 minutes when Cody Gakpo slipped in Alexis Mac Allister, only for Elliot Anderson to produce a heroic goal-line block that stunned Anfield. Moments later, Mohamed Salah danced past three Forest defenders before setting up Milos Kerkez, who volleyed over from a promising angle.
But despite all that early dominance, Forest struck first and completely against the run of play. Liverpool failed to deal with a chaotic corner, leaving Murillo free to keep his composure and bury a precise finish into the corner. The visitors believed they had a second when Igor Jesus volleyed home, but VAR ruled he handled the ball in the build-up.
The expectation was that Liverpool would launch a siege after the break, especially given their desperate need for a statement performance. Instead, Forest delivered another punch. Former Liverpool defender Neco Williams carved through the right flank and pulled the ball back for Nicolò Savona, who powered a superb finish into the roof of the net to make it 2-0.
Arne Slot immediately turned to his bench, sacrificing a defender for Hugo Ekitike in a bid to change the momentum. But piling attackers onto the pitch only increased Liverpool’s disorganisation. Their lack of cohesion was punished brutally with 12 minutes left when Omari Hutchinson forced Caoimhin Kelleher into a save, and Morgan Gibbs-White calmly rolled the rebound into the corner for 3-0, sending frustrated fans streaming out of the stadium.
After the game, Nottingham forest via its official X handle, posted the players reaction in the dressing room to this huge away victory, the players and fans of forest will be hoping this could be the start of something special under new manager Sean Dyche. Watch the video below:
It marked Liverpool’s heaviest home league defeat under Slot and extended their worrying downturn in form, while Forest climbed further from the drop zone. And given the courage, structure and belief they showed, Dyche may indeed be the ideal figure to guide them to safety.
