How Forest tactically exposed Liverpool
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Media caption, Forest inflict stunning defeat on Liverpool at AnfieldWhat is going wrong at Liverpool?Saturday's 3-0 home defeat by Nottingham Forest means the defending champions have now lost six of their past seven league games.The loss was Liverpool's joint-heaviest home defeat of the Premier League era and leaves them 11th in the table.So where did it go wrong for Arne Slot's side - and how did Sean Dyche's tactics exploit their weaknesses?Disorganised defending from cornersForest opened the scoring by taking advantage of Liverpool's poor form from set-pieces this season. One of these players applied light pressure on Alisson while their other player duelled with Virgil van Dijk, impairing his movement.The real battle happened in the middle of the box where Forest and Liverpool set up in a 4v4 situation with Liverpool's four consisting of Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah.Early in the routine, Salah gestured to Mac Allister asking the Argentine to pick up one of Forest's most dangerous players, Murillo.Mac Allister was unable to do this as he was preoccupied with the player he was designated to mark.
Him being free was a by-product of van Dijk being occupied by another Forest player and Szoboszlai picking up Salah's man instead of Gibbs-White.The inswinging cross and the collective movement towards the goal forced the Liverpool players closer to their own goal. Murillo (circled at back post) peels off Szoboszlai while Salah (white circle) hasn't picked anybody upUltimately the poor communication between the four Liverpool players in the middle of the box, including Salah's failure to pick up a man, enabled Forest to score.Questions perhaps could be asked around why Salah was tasked with this role given he is not a natural defender - and can be a threat on the counter-attack.Clever movement pulls Liverpool's defence apartFor Forest's second goal, Salah's defensive contribution was again exploited.The visitors found themselves with three players on the left flank.
Liverpool matched them up numerically with Salah, Curtis Jones and Szoboszlai.Liverpool's players defended this move focusing on individuals rather than defending zones - and Forest used rotations to pull their opponents of position.Image caption, Jones (number 17) could have perhaps been positioned more conservatively - defending the zone at the edge of the box (pointed to by the arrow) rather than tracking his manGibbs-White's movement from central midfield out into the left wing cleverly drew Ryan Gravenberch out. This meant Mac Allister had to leave his central midfield position to pick up Williams.Image caption, Mac Allister (10) came across to defend Williams (3) who had run off of SalahAs Forest moved towards Liverpool's goal, they committed numerous players into the box causing Liverpool to drop deeper too.