Liverpool stumbled in their bid to be crowned Premier League champions on Tuesday evening as they could only manage a 1-1 draw against high-flying Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
The home side made the dream start as they sought to do an incredible double over Liverpool, with Chris Wood firing them in front after just eight minutes. The 33-year-old drilled a low effort beyond Alisson as Forest punished their visitors' sloppiness on the counter-attack.
Forest hadn't conceded since mid-December such has been their remarkable defensive organisation and they showed few signs of allowing Liverpool back into proceedings. Their resolute backline were defiant in their individual battles and entered half-time having not faced a single shot on target.
Liverpool's creative struggles continued at the beginning of the second period but the arrival of Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota proved pivotal in the 65th minute. The left-back's first touch of the game set up the Portuguese from a corner and the forward's header, which came just 22 seconds after coming on, drew Liverpool level.
Jota came close to firing Liverpool ahead ten minutes after his opener but Matz Sels produced a stunning save to deny him. The ball fell fortuitously to the attacker inside the penalty area but a sprawling point-blank stop from the Belgian goalkeeper kept Liverpool out.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo forced Sels into smart saves in the closing ten minutes as Liverpool sought a winner, with the Egyptian also seeing a late effort cleared off the line by Ola Aina.
In the end, Forest's defence just about held firm to secure a fiercely-contested point against the table toppers, with Liverpool dropping points for the second straight Premier League match.
Nottingham Forest player ratings (4-2-3-1)
Player | Rating |
|---|---|
GK: Matz Sels | 7.9/10 |
RB: Ola Aina | 7.1/10 |
CB: Nikola Milenkovic | 7.1/10 |
CB: Murillo | 8.1/10 |
LB: Neco Williams | 6.9/10 |
DM: Ryan Yates | 6.5/10 |
DM: Elliot Anderson | 7.9/10 |
RW: Anthony Elanga | 7.7/10 |
AM: Morgan Gibbs-White | 6.5/10 |
LW: Callum Hudson-Odoi | 7.2/10 |
ST: Chris Wood | 7.2/10 |
SUB: Nicolas Dominguez (77' for Yates) | 6.4/10 |
SUB: Jota Silva (83' for Hudson-Odoi) | N/A |
SUB: Alex Moreno (90' for Williams) | N/A |
SUB: Taiwo Awoniyi (90' for Wood) | N/A |
SUB: Morato (90' for Gibbs-White) | N/A |
Subs not used: Carlos Miguel (GK), Willy Boly, James Ward-Prowse, Ramon Sosa.
Liverpool player ratings (4-2-3-1)
Player | Rating |
|---|---|
GK: Alisson | 6.5/10 |
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold | 6.7/10 |
CB: Ibrahima Konate | 6.5/10 |
CB: Virgil van Dijk | 7.5/10 |
LB: Andy Robertson | 6.4/10 |
DM: Ryan Gravenberch | 7.4/10 |
DM: Alexis Mac Allister | 7.4/10 |
RW: Mohamed Salah | 6.9/10 |
AM: Dominik Szoboszlai | 7.4/10 |
LW: Cody Gakpo | 7.2/10 |
ST: Luis Diaz | 6.7/10 |
SUB: Kostas Tsimikas (65' for Robertson) | 7.0/10 |
SUB: Diogo Jota (65' for Van Dijk) | 7.7/10 |
SUB: Curtis Jones (75' for Diaz) | 6.3/10 |
Subs not used: Caoimhin Kelleher (GK), Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa.
Player of the match - Murillo (Nottingham Forest)
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