Dominik Szoboszlai provided two assists as Liverpool swept aside Nottingham Forest 3-0 in the Premier League.
Riding high from their emphatic 5-1 masterclass against Toulouse on Thursday night, Liverpool were looking to keep up with the leading pack against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Coming into the fixture, Nottingham Forest were looking to end a long drought of winning at Anfield. Their last victory at the famous ground came in 1969.
The Liverpool boss opted for a midfield trio of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch — who were all enjoying positive starts to their Reds career. Luis Diaz missed the match due to distressing personal issues relating to his parents back in Colombia.
Liverpool dominated the early stages of the match, but struggled to find the breakthrough. It wasn’t until half an hour in when Diogo Jota pounced after Matt Turner’s initial save from Darwin Nunez. The Portuguese forward swiftly ran to the bench to hold up Luis Diaz’s shirt, dedicating the goal to his teammate.
One quickly became two for the Reds as Szoboszlai’s low cutback found Nunez, who couldn’t miss from three yards out. Well, he probably could have found a way. Thankfully, he didn’t – instead doubling his side’s lead.
Nottingham Forest had to ensure the next goal was theirs, otherwise they’d be leaving Anfield empty-handed again. Unfortunately for Steve Cooper’s side, they were against Mohamed Salah, who hadn’t scored yet in this match.
The Egyptian claimed advantage from Matt Turner’s miscalculation after a wordlie of a pass from Szoboszlai (his second assist of the game), putting the game to bed with an open goal. Three goals and three points were secured in a routine Anfield win.
Jurgen Klopp described the difficulty of celebrating a win and even preparing for the game after the news of Luis Diaz’s personal issues relating to his parents:
“How can you make a football game really important on a day like this? It’s really difficult. I never struggled with that in my life. It was always my safe place, sometimes my hiding, as a player or as a coach, you are allowed during these 90 minutes just to focus on that and it was impossible. Absolutely impossible to do that.”
Liverpool’s return to knock-out football as they face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium in the fourth round of the EFL Cup. The Reds last won the competition in 2021/22, and they’re looking to recapture the trophy back from Manchester United. Kick-off is at 7.45pm on Wednesday, 1 November.
Liverpool team: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Gomez 89), Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Gravenberch (Elliott 58), Salah, Nunez (Endo 80), Jota (Gakpo 58).
Nottingham Forest team: Turner, Aurier, Boly (Awoniyi 69), Niakhate, Murillo, Aina (Toffolo 69), Gibbs-White (Williams 83), Mangala (Santos 83), Sangare, Dominguez (Yates 69), Elanga.
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