Advertisement

Liverpool outruns Nottingham Forest in 3-2 Anfield thriller

nicholas mendola
·4 min read

Liverpool handled Nottingham Forest’s plan to fight fire with fire, getting a pair of goals from Diogo Jota in a 3-2 win at Anfield on Saturday.

Mohamed Salah bagged the winner for the free-scoring Reds, giving them 50 points and a reasonable-enough shout for the top four.

WATCH LIVERPOOL vs NOTTINGHAM FOREST FULL MATCH REPLAY STREAM – LINK

Liverpool’s moves into seventh place for the moment, six points back of fourth-place Newcastle and three behind Tottenham, who play Sunday. Aston Villa has one more point than Liverpool but has played one more match than the Reds.

Forest drops into 19th place with 27 points, though it twice looked set for a 28 points through Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White equalizers.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest.

[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]

Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest player ratings: Stars of the Show

Diogo Jota

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Mohamed Salah

Morgan Gibbs-White

Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest player ratings
fotmob.com

Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest as it happened

First half: Forest has had its fair share of the ball, at least according to expectations, but Liverpool’s supplying most of the pace and creatvity.

Virgil van Dijk has a header go just over the goal for a corner but the game is delated in the 28th minute as Scott McKenna’s injured his shoulder and will have to come off or Joe Worrall.

Now Diogo Jota flashes over goal as Liverpool is getting closer but still not quite finding the Incisiveness needed to lean on Forest’s nerves. Forest, meanwhile, is doing an almost uncanny job of giving the ball back to Liverpool within three touches of any takeaway/clearance/block.

Second half: GOAL!!!! Didn’t take long, did that? It’s Jota on the business end of a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner that sees three Liverpool heads touch the ball. Liverpool, 1-0.

GOAL!! Well, well, well… It’s ex-Liverpool youth Neco Williams with a deflected strike to fool Alisson and make it 1-1.

GOOOOAAALLLL!! Jota’s got his brace as he chests down an Andy Robertson free kick from the left in style, belting the shot past Keylor Navas and inside the far post!

Level again! GOAL! Morgan Gibbs-White slashes a side volley off a back-flicked corner kick, and it turns off Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold to defy Alisson. 2-2.

GOOOOOOALLLL-Y SMOKES! Mohamed Salah fends off an arm bar and fires home from a cross in the 70th minute. This game, man. Liverpool, 3-2.

And Taiwo Awoniyi almost strikes again against his old team after doing so in a win earlier this season, but his bicycle kick just misses over the bar.

What’s next?

Nottingham Forest hosts Brighton on Wednesday before going to Brentford at 10am ET Saturday.

Liverpool visits West Ham on Wednesday, then hosts Tottenham at 11:30am ET on Sunday.

Diogo Jota goal video: Tic-tac-toe headers

Neco Williams goal video: And it’s 1-1

Diogo Jota goal video: All-class trap and finish

Morgan Gibbs-White goal video: Super side volley

Mohamed Salah goal video: Egyptian battles to snap ball home

How to watch Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest live, stream link and start time

Kick off: 10am ET, Saturday
TV Channel: USA Network
Online: Stream via NBCSports.com

Key storylines & star players

Liverpool was scoring even went things weren’t going to plan against Leeds. Just look at Diogo Jota’s reaction to his mishit but still successful second goal. But there’s no question that Jota and Mohamed Salah are in terrific form after braces against Leeds.

Forest has been getting near-immaculate service from Morgan Gibbs-White many games this season, but the club has just gotten their preferred MGW target back in Taiwo Awoniyi. Hopefully the ex-Liverpool man can help Brennan Johnson deliver the goods against his old club.

Liverpool team news, injuries, lineup options

OUT: Stefan Bajcetic (undisclosed), Calvin Ramsay (knee), Naby Keita (undisclosed)

Nottingham Forest team news, injuries, lineup options

OUT: Willy Boly (thigh), Dean Henderson (thigh), Chris Wood (thigh), Cheickou Kouyate (thigh), Giulian Biancone (knee), Omar Richards (calf), Ryan Yates (shoulder), Gustavo Scarpa (knee)

Liverpool outruns Nottingham Forest in 3-2 Anfield thriller originally appeared on NBCSports.com