Anfield Shock: Forest Rip Apart Liverpool in Devastating 3–0 Upset! | OneFootball

On an afternoon when Liverpool desperately needed clarity, structure, and spirit, Nottingham Forest instead supplied all three. Arne Slot’s champions were dismantled 3-0 at Anfield by a Forest side who arrived in the relegation zone, left with their biggest-ever away victory at this ground, and exposed every structural flaw that has dragged Liverpool into their worst league run since the 1960s.

Goals from Murillo, Nicolò Savona, and Morgan Gibbs-White crowned a complete away performance built on defensive resilience, counter-attacking incision, and tactical discipline. Forest claimed their first Premier League clean sheet in 20 matches, while Liverpool slumped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches – and a second consecutive 3-0 league loss for the first time in 59 years.

This was no smash-and-grab; not a freak result. It was a tactical and emotional unravelling for the champions and a validation of Sean Dyche’s back-to-basics blueprint.

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Match Summary & Tactical Review

Forest’s Plan: Structure, Simplicity and Set-Piece Savvy

Sean Dyche’s sides traditionally build from solidity, but this Forest iteration combined organisation with controlled aggression. Their shape – a compact 4-4-1-1 without the ball, shifting into a spring-loaded 4-2-3-1 in transition – suffocated Liverpool in all the right areas.

The early exchanges hinted at open play dominance for the hosts, with Liverpool controlling possession and Alex Mac Allister denied by a superb goal-line header from the excellent Elliot Anderson. Yet even in those moments, Forest never looked disorganised. Their line was tight, their distances perfect, and their counter-press triggers clear.

Liverpool’s recurring weakness: set pieces

And then, with painful familiarity for Slot, the dead ball broke Liverpool again.

A Forest corner was half cleared by Virgil van Dijk but only as far as Murillo, whose first-time strike fizzed into the far corner. VAR briefly checked Dan Ndoye’s position, assessing whether he obstructed Alisson’s view; unlike the similar decision involving Andy Robertson at the Etihad weeks prior, this time the officials ruled no interference.

Liverpool’s frustration was visible in the aggressive protests, but the problem was familiar. This was their ninth set-piece goal conceded in a league season not yet halfway through – a staggering reversal from the team that dominated the art in recent years.

Yet Forest’s value lay not simply in exploiting Liverpool’s weakness but in making the chaotic moments their own. Whether from Murillo, Nikola Milenkovic or Neco Williams, Dyche’s team followed every second ball like a tailored directive. Their recovery runs were committed, their duels decisive, and their tactical fouls intelligent.

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Liverpool’s Structural Collapse: Issues All Over the Pitch

Slot’s side played like a team struggling with identity. His selection – five changes from the defeat to Manchester City – reflected both necessity and desperation. Alisson returned after two months out, while Dominik Szoboszlai was repurposed at right-back to cover Conor Bradley and Cody Gakpo’s omissions. It was a patchwork that compromised their fluency.

1. The press lacked bite

Liverpool’s press, once the heartbeat of the club, faltered. Forest bypassed it with simplicity: angled balls into channels for Ndoye, Gibbs-White drifting between the lines, and Sangaré stepping into midfield pockets unopposed.

2. Centre-backs were repeatedly exposed

Ibrahima Konaté endured one of his most difficult matches in a Liverpool shirt. A misjudged clearance, a poor touch, and an inability to match Forest’s aggression all culminated in panic – symbolised when he turned Sangaré’s cross into Jesus’s path, only to be saved by an ambiguous handball call.

Liverpool’s reprieve lasted seconds.

Mac Allister failed to intercept a pass into Williams; the former Liverpool full-back turned sharply inside Robertson and laid on a perfect square ball for Savona, who dispatched it high beyond Alisson.

Slot’s furious reaction at the fourth official – first about the tracking, then the defending – summed up the crumbling structural integrity of his back line.

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Forest’s Execution: Discipline Meets Incision

What made Forest’s display so impressive was not merely the goals but their consistency. Every attacking action looked drilled rather than improvised. Dyche’s decision to lean into the strengths of Murillo and Milenkovic, rather than ask them to imitate a high line unsuited to their profiles, was strategic clarity in action.

Murillo: the beating heart of the performance

The Brazilian did more than defend; he authored the tempo of Forest’s game.

Anderson: England conversations intensify

Elliot Anderson – omnipresent, fearless, and intelligent – delivered the kind of performance that elevates a player from prospect to senior contender. His interventions were decisive:

Dyche has simplified his game, and Anderson has flourished.

Liverpool Fall Apart: Substitutions Create Chaos, Not Control

Slot’s attempt to salvage the match by shifting to a more aggressive 4-3-3 and later a fluid 4-2-4 only succeeded in amplifying the chaos. With Konaté withdrawn for Hugo Ekitiké, and Rio Ngumoha, Federico Chiesa, and others thrown forward, Liverpool lost the midfield entirely.

The counter that broke Liverpool psychologically

Murillo hit a diagonal onto the chest of Omari Hutchinson, who glided inside Robertson and lashed a shot that Alisson parried. The rebound fell to Gibbs-White, alone, calm, unmarked – and he passed in the third to a chorus of boos.

Half of Anfield had already left by then.

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The Isak Conundrum: A Void of Threat

Alexander Isak – goalless in the league for over 200 days – produced another anonymous display. In a Liverpool side previously accustomed to central striker fluency, he touched the ball sparingly, rarely linked play, and hardly threatened.

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Conclusion: A Warning, A Crisis, and a Blueprint for Others

Slot insisted in pre-season that progress would not be linear. But this is not a wobble – this is freefall. Liverpool sink into the bottom half of the Premier League table, their title defence in ruins and Champions League qualification drifting dangerously out of reach.

Forest, meanwhile, surge out of the relegation zone with a performance that may prove transformative. Dyche has delivered Forest’s clearest blueprint: disciplined, brave, structurally sound, and lethal on the counter.

For Liverpool, the road ahead looks far less certain. For Forest, the road suddenly opens with possibility.