Liverpool were left frustrated with two points dropped at Nottingham Forest and fans were left questioning the starting roles of two players in particular.
The Reds came away from the City Ground with a point which ensures they stay out of touching distance when it comes to the chasing pack, but not by the distance they would hope.
Diogo Jota‘s header was needed to cancel out Chris Wood’s well-taken opener, but despite dominating Liverpool were unable to find a winner.
It is a result which can be viewed in many ways – a hard-earned point; defeat escaped; a game they should have won – and its impact may only truly be felt at the end of the season.
Here, This Is Anfield’s Jack Lusby (@LusbyJack) and Sam Millne (@sam_millne) discuss the good and the bad from Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Forest.
The good…
JACK: Result aside, that was a game which, for the most part, could comfortably fall into the ‘advert for the Premier League‘ bracket.
Two sides with very different styles locked in a tense battle for supremacy; Liverpool were by far the better side for the majority of the game, but the way it played out was fascinating.
Credit to Nuno for the way he has coached his Forest team, but more credit should go to Slot for the way he out-thought his fellow manager.
The decision to bring off Konate and Robertson for Tsimikas and Jota was inspired – not only because it immediately led to a goal, but it kept Liverpool on the front-foot for the rest of the game and really should have earned a win.
It became clear that Liverpool only needed Van Dijk at centre-back and the Fulham game showed us that Gravenberch is comfortable as that floating defender-cum-midfielder, so taking off Konate essentially gave us an extra ‘active’ player.
If it wasn’t for Matz Sels we would be talking about three points. Jota could have got three and Salah two.
There were certainly negatives to take from that game but, overall, it should still be an encouraging one.
SAM: In the immediate aftermath, frustration at failing to take opportunities and dropping another two points was the overriding emotion.
After some time to reflect, though, I’ve come to the conclusion that we were unfortunate not to win the game and, on another day, the Reds triumph comfortably.
While Forest should rightly be pleased with the point, the Reds dominated proceedings and made life very difficult for Sels in the second half.
Given other results around the league – Chelsea and Man City dropping points while Arsenal face a tough match against Tottenham on Wednesday night – the point was far from disastrous.
It shouldn’t be, however, a point fans are satisfied with. Too many titles have been lost on draws, as Reds know all too well.
The bad…
SAM: While Liverpool’s output improved significantly towards the end, I did feel their first-half struggles were similar to what they experienced at Anfield in September.
Thankfully, unlike in the previous game against Forest, Slot got his changes right after the break and Liverpool recovered.
In terms of personnel, Robertson is unfortunately again in the spotlight. His decision-making this season hasn’t been what it once was and he is consistently proving a liability – Tsimikas will be knocking on Slot’s door this week.
It wasn’t just Robertson who had an off night, though. Salah and Diaz also looked out of sorts, the latter struggling to find space in a packed penalty box, while the Egyptian was dealt with by Neco Williams on almost every occasion.
Salah’s shooting boots weren’t with him on Tuesday and neither was his usually pristine touch. It was this that arguably cost Liverpool the match.
JACK: The referee was an obvious issue throughout the game and I think both sets of fans were left frustrated with the way he ‘managed’ things.
Foul after foul after foul went overlooked, which was clearly a conscious decision but went beyond letting the game flow and into the realms of recklessness.
Put simply, it seemed more like Chris Kavanagh couldn’t keep up than it did him allowing a top-level game of football play out with few disruptions.
I’m still at a loss as to how Salah didn’t get a penalty after being brought down by two Forest players at once; a third one ‘won the ball’, so that was clearly sufficient for VAR John Brooks.
Now where have we heard that name before…?
So does Slot need to switch up his first-choice striker?
JACK: I’ve been a big backer of Lucho up front.
It’s worked extremely well in certain games – Bayer Leverkusen, Man City, Tottenham, West Ham – and like the formation switch we saw in the second half at Forest, it has clearly been a tactical revelation for Slot.
But using Diaz as a No. 9 is clearly more of a situational thing, and he’s not necessarily first-choice material leading the line.
There is a reason Slot began the season with Jota as his go-to striker and now he is back fit again there is a strong case to argue that he can take over from Diaz.
Perhaps the beauty of it is that Slot can switch things up depending on the requirements of a particular game, with Jota and Diaz two different types of ‘nine-and-a-half’ while Darwin Nunez and, more so in my opinion, Jayden Danns are useful No. 9s for variety.
If you’re asking me who should start up front against Brentford, it’s got to be Jota.
SAM: If Slot were to answer this question, he would likely say his selection depends on the opposition, which is a good, valid point.
There is a legitimate case for having such a nippy, technical player like Diaz trying to disrupt things against a well-organised defence.
However, Forest were too good for that on Tuesday and Jota’s more direct style was immediately more effective when coming off the bench.
Answering the question, yes, I think Jota should start against Brentford. Liverpool, though, may be looking for another option in the summer given the No. 20’s injury troubles and Nunez’s form.
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