Liverpool continued to flex their muscles as they added another three points to their tally against Nottingham Forest, with three unanswered goals at Anfield making for a record best start.
Jurgen Klopp‘s side saw each of their starting forwards get on the scoresheet and help wrap up a comfortable afternoon at Anfield.
The Reds showed patience when needed against Forest’s back five and they got their rewards, a welcome sign of improvement as deep-lying sides can often lead to frustration.
But Liverpool were never not in control of proceedings, and the clinical nature of the win made for some impressive stats, which we’ve compiled here with the help of FotMob.
Fortress Anfield x8
The Reds have played eight home games across all competitions to start this season and have been victors each and every time.
The run is the best at home since the 1985/86 season, when Liverpool won their first 13 games at Anfield.
The unblemished record to date has seen the Reds put 24 goals beyond the opposition and concede just four, scoring three or more goals in six of the eight matches.
It is the best start to a home campaign in 38 years, and that’s even with Anfield at reduced capacity as we await the completion of the Anfield Road End.
Fortress Anfield, long may it continue!
The star of the show
With a FotMob rating of 9.2 out of 10, Dominik Szoboszlai was the man of the moment for Liverpool – as he often has been in what is a brilliant start to life at the club.
There is surely no blade of grass that man does not cover each and every time he dons the shirt, he’s simply everywhere all at once.
Against Forest he, again, put on a clinic and made you wonder how Liverpool were able to have a free run at him in the summer transfer window – not that we’re complaining!
Here are just some of his impeccable stats from Sunday:
- Two assists – an xA of 0.74, a game high
- Four chances created – more than any other player
- 12 recoveries – joint-most in the match
- 93% passing accuracy – third-best of any player on the pitch
- Six passes into the final third
We’ve said it a lot in the first few months of the campaign but, what a player we have on our hands!
Starved of the football
That Klopp was still eager to identify where Liverpool could improve after a clinical and comfortable display said everything of where this evolution of the team is at.
“The last five minutes I think before half-time, all of a sudden we were a bit too deep and they just could chip the balls there and these are moments we have to improve, clearly,” the manager said.
It was finding one of the few moments of weakness as Liverpool restricted Forest to just 27 percent possession and they managed just 193 accurate passes in 90 minutes – the Reds, in comparison, had 654.
Moreover, Liverpool finished with an xG of 3.19 and Steve Cooper’s side just 0.45.
They managed nine shots on goal and only one on target, and that came in the 95th minute – though they did hit the crossbar moments before.
In the end, it was a quiet afternoon for Alisson, and that makes for a welcome change to the very start of the season.
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