By Matija Šerić
For lovers of top-tier football, Saturday afternoon is usually reserved for the English Premier League, a competition that offers the very best the sport has to offer. Given the abundance of high-quality matches and other content, some viewers deliberately skipped Liverpool’s clash with Nottingham Forest, assuming the Reds would take care of business with ease. Many believed Liverpool’s crisis was over — a notion quickly proven false. After being dismantled 3–0 by Manchester City on 9 November, the Reds suffered an identical 3–0 defeat on 22 November, this time at Anfield, at the hands of the visitors from West Bridgford. This home humiliation made it clear that the “devil has taken the reins” and that all warning lights inside Liverpool should be flashing red.
Crisis — Liverpool’s New Constant
After a brilliant title-winning season and a record-breaking summer transfer window worth around half a billion euros, the Reds have fallen into a deep crisis this autumn. The club from England’s famous port city hasn’t looked this poor in years. In their last seven Premier League fixtures, Arne Slot’s men suffered six defeats (eight losses in 11 matches across all competitions), some of them particularly humiliating. Yet the loss to Nottingham Forest made the scale of the crisis fully visible. The rot has spread into every pore of the team, and seemingly the club as well, which feels suffocated by negativity. Every player is far from their usual level.
Game highlights
A Footballing Lesson from Nottingham Forest
Although Liverpool ended the match with 75% possession, this number is misleading and hides the true extent of their helplessness. In fact, it only highlights their weakness: despite dominating the ball, the Reds created just one big chance, while Forest created two. Forest registered seven shots on target, Liverpool only four.
Murillo opened the scoring in the 33rd minute after a poor defensive reaction — Virgil van Dijk cleared the ball weakly and Dominik Szoboszlai failed to block the shot. Although Dan Ndoye was standing in an offside position in front of Alisson, VAR ruled he did not obstruct the goalkeeper’s view. Just two minutes later it was nearly 0–2, but Igor Jesus’ goal was disallowed for handball — a very questionable decision. Ibrahima Konaté reacted dreadfully.
Then, in the first minute of the second half, full-back Neco Williams completely sliced through Liverpool’s defence before Nicolò Savona slotted home for 0–2. Centre-backs Van Dijk and Konaté were mere bystanders. For the third goal, Andrew Robertson and the rest of the team were embarrassingly beaten during Omari Hutchinson’s run, and Morgan Gibbs-White fired the ball past a helpless Alisson. Manager Sean Dyche and his players passed a major test and gave Liverpool a lesson in proactive defending — though the lethargic home side made their job much easier. Forest climbed to 16th place with 12 points, edging their way towards safety.
A Defence That Barely Exists
Very little worked for Liverpool. Once again they looked like a team playing without a defence. Every time Forest approached the penalty area, panic arose in the Reds’ back line. Konaté was disastrous in passing, marking, and positioning (rated 6.6), and Van Dijk wasn’t far behind (his 7.3 rating doesn’t reflect how poor he was). The once-elite centre-back pairing looked utterly unrecognisable.
Szoboszlai, playing at right-back due to injuries to Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley, contributed reasonably well in attack (rating 7.0) but failed to provide the extra edge Liverpool needed. Defensively, he showed he is not a natural full-back. Miloš Kerkez looked lost and misplaced the ball seven times (rating 6.3). Frimpong’s absence cannot justify such a poor defensive display.
A Leaky Midfield and a Toothless Attack
Alexis Mac Allister looked good in moments — he missed one big chance — but also lost the ball 12 times and was dreadful defensively (rating 6.5). Ryan Gravenberch was anonymous (6.4), while Curtis Jones (7.3) was the only midfielder showing anything close to form.
Mohamed Salah (6.6) tried hard, but it seems his best days may be behind him. He took four shots, only one on target, completed just 70% of his passes, completed 4 dribbles out of 14, and lost possession 37 times. Cody Gakpo was slightly better but far less involved (6.7). And although Florian Wirtz is injured, based on his poor early-season form, it is questionable whether his presence would have helped.
Invisible Isak
Alexander Isak — signed in the summer for €145 million — was completely unrecognisable. He was anonymous throughout, as if he wasn’t even on the pitch. He attempted one shot, well off target, completed just five passes, and lost the ball seven times. He was rightly substituted in the 68th minute. The Swedish forward wasn’t helped by teammates who simply couldn’t supply him with quality passes due to a lack of creativity.
Bench Offers No Solutions
Substitutes Robertson, Hugo Ekitiké, Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha brought no spark to Liverpool’s lifeless display (even though Ngumoha attempted dribbles at 0–3). The midfield was so ineffective that Van Dijk and Konaté resorted to launching long balls — reminiscent of the old English “kick and rush” era.
Press conference after the game
A Miserable Season
After 12 matches (one unfinished round), Liverpool have six wins and six losses (18 points), sitting 11th in the Premier League. They trail leaders Arsenal — who have a game in hand — by eight points. It is obvious the title defence is already dead. With this level of performance, the Reds would be fortunate to secure European football for next season.
Experts blame manager Arne Slot and his footballing philosophy. This is unsurprising: during Jürgen Klopp’s tenure from 2015 to 2024, Liverpool never looked this disjointed, weak, uninspired, miserable, and dysfunctional. After the debacles against City and Forest, the players seemed desperate to hear the final whistle just to escape the pitch.
Slot on the Brink
After the match, Slot said:
“When we win or lose, it’s my responsibility. We’ve been the dominant team, but lately we constantly miss our chances, and the ones we concede always go in… Of course, there is a way out with the quality players we have. I am responsible for the current losses. I can never come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough, and I am responsible for that.”
Given that Liverpool’s squad this season is stronger than last year’s title-winning one, it is clear that Slot is the main culprit. He has failed to find tactics that integrate the new signings and has continued to use last season’s approach — a book opponents have studied well. Full-backs are a major weakness, and the two Hungarians are not up to the job. It is evident that Liverpool need a formation change and new tactical ideas, especially more effective vertical passing. The midfield lacks anyone capable of delivering meaningful balls. The dip in form of stars like Van Dijk, Mac Allister and Salah — shadows of their past selves — makes matters worse.
Should Slot be sacked? Considering the injury list, tough schedule and difficulties integrating new players, he should probably be given a bit more time — at least until the end of the calendar year — to see whether he can stabilise the situation.
Time to Refresh and Rebuild
In the end, everything comes down to the players — the manager cannot play for them. It is plausible that fatigue and saturation from countless matches are contributing to the poor form, and that Liverpool need fresh blood to start a new era. Even if Slot were to leave tomorrow, that alone wouldn’t fix the underperformance of numerous players.
In any case, the club must begin a thorough restructuring of tactics, playstyle and the squad in the upcoming transfer window, so that this season doesn’t turn into a nightmare for the Reds’ supporters.
References:
https://www.sofascore.com/football/match/liverpool-nottingham-forest/osU#tab:lineups
https://www.skysports.com/football/liverpool-vs-n-forest/report/531245
https://theanalyst.com/articles/liverpool-vs-nottingham-forest-stats-premier-league-11-2025
https://www.thisisanfield.com/2025/11/liverpool-0-3-forest-premier-league/
