Lessons Learned: Reds Dominant Display vs Notts Forest | OneFootball

Comfortable Sunday For The Reds

Almost like a decent general practitioner, Liverpool were clinical, professional, and had zero to give Nottingham Forest. In this succession of ‘easily winnable’ games, this is exactly what Jurgen Klopp would have been looking for. The opposition demonstrated little to no positive intent, a range of players involved in the goals, securing three points without an injury or a red card in sight. Naturally, there are more important things than football in the world, and the team’s thoughts could well have been with an absent friend. We look at the lessons learned, though, from a comfortable Sunday afternoon at Anfield as seen in a long time.

Szobo Still The Star Boy

With Ryan Gravenberch grabbing all the plaudits in midweek, it was back to his normal routine in the league for Dominik Szoboszlai. The Hungarian midfielder delivered another complete performance for the Reds and was again everywhere, recording two assists, one with a classy pullback for Nunez and another in the second half for Salah with a diagonal ball. The 23-year-old’s stats were exceptional too, as four key passes, 92% pass completion, and an incredible 13 recoveries (the most of any Liverpool player) tell their own story. The club has a genuine superstar in waiting on its hands.

Forwards Together

It was obvious where everyone’s thoughts would be despite what was happening on the pitch. Diogo Jota made it clear with a classy gesture to grab Luis Diaz’s shirt from the dugout, having netted the opener. All the other forwards were involved too, as an all-action Nunez performance brought a goal and overhead kick, whilst Mo Salah became only the third Liverpool player to net in the opening five home league games. Cody Gakpo was a good half yard offside to stop it being a full house for the forwards, but that wasn’t the key takeaway here. These boys are all fighting for each other, there, and our thoughts are with his Colombian team-mate.

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Clean Sheets Returning

Liverpool’s back line had been somewhat porous this campaign, and we’ve had that feeling of we’ll outscore the opposition and win. Just recently, though, it’s good to see the clean sheets returning, with another here following up on last week’s in the derby victory. Granted, there was practically zero ambition from Forest for most of the game before they rattled the woodwork late on, but they’re looking more solid. It’s no coincidence that Virgil Van Dijk’s return to form has coincided with this, and it’s needed with Robbo’s injury and Konate’s recent jitters. Either way, if they’re going to have a successful season, there’s no better routine to get into.