Premier league action returned to the City Ground on a misty midweek evening. Optimistic Forest fans were viewing the fixture as an insight of what European football could offer. Tuesday evenings against world class opposition becomes increasingly more possible as long as Forest maintain their positive form. The home side had the opportunity to close the gap to top of the table Liverpool. Even if Liverpool suffered a loss, they would remain top of the table with a game in hand, presenting the sheer quality Liverpool possess. The atmosphere inside the city ground was brewing, an old age classic between two colossal giants was heightened by the circumstances of both teams’ league positions.

Liverpool were the side controlling the opening stages with a couple of snatched long range efforts. However, the opening goal came from Forest’s all time leading premier league goalscorer, Chris Wood. Build up to the goal included sharp link up between Hudson-Odoi, Elanga and Wood in a slick transitioning move. Wood’s goal in front of the Bridgford stand was his 13th of the campaign, only 2 goals shy of his best goal scoring season in the Premier League. Following the opener, Murillo expressed his ‘joga bonito’ playstyle, releasing a long range effort narrowly wide of the top left corner. The remainder of the first half saw Nottingham Forest deploy a mid/low block, with Liverpool struggling to create clear cut chances.

The beginning of the second half continued how the first half ended. Arne Slot has been renowned for his side’s improvements in the second half of matches, after a short review looked to work his magic again. Diogo Jota and Konstantinos Tsimikas were introduced in the 65th minute. The pair combined with their first touches in the game. Tsimikas took a corner with Jota heading in from close range. From this moment on, Liverpool dominated the momentum of the game accumulating over 1.7xg until full time. There were multiple opportunities for the visitors to lead the game. Jota posed a constant threat, producing a couple of close range shots merely prevented by magnificent saves from Sels. Mo Salah had an effort cleared off the goal line by Ola Aina symbolically presenting Forest’s defensive resilience when under huge pressure. Despite the game ending 1-1, Liverpool would feel as if they had dropped 2 points considering the number of chances they were unable to convert. Man of the match was awarded to Murillo, most notably for the 17 clearances he made, the most of any player during this season surpassing the previous record which was also Murillo’s. Overall both teams can take positives from the result with Liverpool continuing their title charge and Forest sustaining their European push.