Liverpool beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 and made it three Anfield wins from three in the last week to move back to three points behind Premier League leaders Tottenham. Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah were the goalscorers for the Reds on a day where everyone’s thoughts were with Luis Diaz. Express Sport covers the main talking points from Liverpool’s victory…
Jota pays Diaz tribute
Luis Diaz was a notable absentee from Liverpool’s match-day squad following the kidnapping of his parents back home in Colombia. Gunmen on motorbikes took the pair in the city of Barrancas. Diaz’s mother has since been rescued but his father remains missing.
Colombian police have offered £9million in reward for information about Luis Manuel Diaz while Jurgen Klopp admitted pre-match here that everyone at the club is worried for the winger’s family.
Jota came into the starting line-up as a result of Diaz missing out and it was him who made it 1-0 Liverpool on 31 minutes, finishing from close range after Nunez’s shot was saved. The Portuguese ran straight to the bench to lift up a ‘Diaz 7’ shirt to the crowd in a heartwarming tribute to his team-mate, who like him is a former Porto player.
The gesture was clapped by the rest of the team and given a huge cheer by the Anfield crowd. “It is our fervent hope that the matter is resolved safely and at the earliest possible opportunity. In the meantime, the player’s welfare will continue to be our immediate priority,” read the club’s statement earlier in the day.
Diogo the good luck charm
Jota has scored 47 Liverpool goals across all competitions since joining from Wolves in September 2020. Remarkably, he has still never lost a game for the Merseyside club in which he has found the back of the net. That run has now been extended to 38 games.
Before today, had also netted in this season’s wins over Bournemouth, West Ham, Leicester, Union Saint-Gilloise and Toulouse. Klopp will hope he can keep on scoring, then.
Nuisance Nunez
That’s now six goals and five assists (six, if like Fantasy Premier League you count saved shots) in 13 games this season for Darwin Nunez. A figure of fun for some due to his occasional mishaps – like his comical miss against Toulouse in midweek – the fact is the Uruguayan makes things happen.
In every single match he has played more than 45 minutes this term, he has produced at least one direct goal contribution. He is making the No 9 shirt – inherited from Roberto Firmino in the summer – his own and he is surely the first-choice centre-forward right now.
Better at the back
Forest’s lack of shots meant a quieter afternoon for Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson – and the Brazilian managed back-to-back Premier League clean sheets for only the third time in 2023. The annual table shows that they have conceded 37 times in 32 games – 13 times more than champions Manchester City (before they played Manchester United in Sunday’s derby).
The last time the Reds won the league it was because they had the best back-line in the division, conceding 33 times. It was a mere 22 the year before when they won the Champions League and just 26 in their quadruple-chasing 2021-22 campaign.
Last year, by contrast, they conceded 47 goals and in the Covid hit 2020-21 season it was 42 times. It’s clear then that if the Reds want to win things this year – they need more shut-outs like this.
Forest’s Anfield misery continues
Nottingham Forest only showed sufficient attacking threat when it was already too late at Anfield, where they remain winless since 1969. They have now gone 25 league games without winning at Liverpool’s home stadium.
Their best chances came late on when Anthony Elanga hit the bar and skied a shot at the Kop end – by which point the game was 3-0 and already all but over. Steve Cooper’s side didn’t manage a single shot on target and appeared to miss the physical threat of striker Taiwo Awoniyi, who was only a late substitute after returning from injury.
