Diaz left out as Liverpool cruise to win over Nottingham Forest
Facing a Liverpool side buoyed by Thursday’s thumping win over Toulouse, Forest adopted a compact defensive shape in a bid to negate the home side’s array of attacking talent.
Steve Cooper would have been pleased to see his game plan frustrate Liverpool in the opening stages, with a tame Diogo Jota header and a harmless Alexis Mac Allister strike the only real opportunities of note in the first 20 minutes.
Unfortunately for Forest, their best-laid plans were thrown out of the window in the 31st minute when Murillo gifted possession away on the halfway line, allowing the hosts to break away through Darwin Núñez, who saw his initial effort saved before Jota guided the rebound into the open net.
With Forest’s short-lived resistance quashed, Núñez swiftly doubled the Reds’ advantage, tapping home from Dominik Szoboszlai’s cut-back following an incisive attacking move.
After shipping two goals in four minutes, the Tricky Trees were fortunate not to concede a third before the break, with Matt Turner making two strong saves to deny Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai in quick succession.
As the contest moved past the hour mark, Forest were still yet to trouble Alisson Becker, indicating their motivation was to limit the damage rather than force their way back into the contest.
Despite having to remain patient, Liverpool’s quest for a third ultimately bore fruit in the 77th minute following a moment of madness from Turner.
A rush of blood saw the USA international storm out of his box and misjudge a long ball over the top, presenting Mohamed Salah with the simple task of rolling in his eighth league goal of the season.
Anthony Elanga went close to giving the travelling support something to cheer when his fierce shot crashed against the crossbar.
At the opposite end, Cody Gakpo saw a late effort ruled out, but his disallowed strike did little to dampen the mood at Anfield as the hosts maintained their 100% home record, while the result extended Forest’s winless run to six games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Darwin Núñez (Liverpool)
