Forest have done something against Liverpool that only two other teams could achieve this season
It’s fair to say that Nottingham Forest have done more than any other opposition to frustrate Liverpool this season.
Of the six Premier League games that the Merseysiders haven’t won in 2024/25, two have been against Nuno Espirito Santo’s team, who are responsible for Arne Slot’s sole defeat in this division after five months.
The Garibaldi had been on track to do the double over the Reds for much of last night, having led for just under an hour until Diogo Jota’s instant impact off the bench to net the equaliser, and in the end the home side were indebted to goalkeeper Matz Sels to ensure a share of the spoils.
Forest fans revelled in how they got inside Slot’s head, taunting him to that effect to the tune of ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries, and the City Ground faithful can lay claim to one remarkable statistic which has been a rarity in the top flight this season.
Forest prevent Salah from adding to phenomenal G/A tally
With Liverpool’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw on Tuesday scored by Jota from a Kostas Tsimikas corner kick, it meant that there was no goal or assist for Mo Salah in a Premier League game for the first time since 5 October (the 1-0 win at Crystal Palace).
That’s a sequence encompassing 12 matches across 101 days, and there was only one of those dozen games in which the Egyptian didn’t score (the 2-2 draw against Fulham a month ago), as per Transfermarkt.
The 32-year-old has played in all 20 of the Reds’ top-flight fixtures so far this term, and there’s only been three in which he didn’t register a goal contribution. Two of those have been against Nottingham Forest, who of course won 1-0 at Anfield in September.
Forest achieve rare feat in thwarting Salah twice
Nuno’s team have duly accomplished something that, even with just over four months of the Premier League season remaining, only two other clubs in the division will be able to accomplish on 2024/25 – denying Salah either a goal or an assist against them.
The others who could manage this rare feat are Palace, if they prevent him from doing so at Anfield on the final day of the campaign, and Everton, who we’ve yet to face in the league under Slot.
Forest needed to be resolute to keep the Egyptian scoreless, with Liverpool’s number 11 landing two efforts on target and attempting six shots in total (Sofascore), while he also created a promising chance for Jota and had a second-half penalty shot waved away by Chris Kavanagh.
It wasn’t to be Salah’s night, but the Reds still lead the way in the Premier League table with margin for error, and his form this season suggests that it won’t be long before he’s back on the goal trail!
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