Slot sees positives as Nottingham Forest parked the bus against Liverpool

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot highlights the positives after the 1-1 away draw against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Liverpool fought back after conceding an early goal as Nottingham parked the bus to secure the result with their defence.

The Tricky Trees had a clean sheet streak in the last five games in all competitions before facing the Reds. The Reds started the game strongly but failed to capitalise on their creativity with wayward shots towards the Nottingham goal.

As the Merseyside giants continued to probe, a half-hearted duel in the central pitch resulted in a counter-attack from Forest. The Tricky Trees used their one chance against the run of play to score a clinical goal from Chris Woods.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot brought Diego Jota on as a substitute before he equalized for the Reds against Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool continued to dominate the possession but failed to open the hosts as they played as a compacted defensive unit. Things changed in the second half when Slot introduced Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas for Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson.

The super-substitutes immediately combined from a corner kick to score the equalizer and provide a major psychological boost to Liverpool. The Reds probed Nottingham’s defence further while maintaining the integrity of their defence against any counter-attacking strategy from the hosts.

Speaking in the post-match press conference (via Liverpoolfc.com), Slot highlighted the positives after Liverpool managed only a draw against Nottingham. He said:

“I couldn’t have asked for more today. I think most people talk about the second half – that they are really positive about the second half. If you ask me, I am also more positive about the second half than the first half, but if you play at this ground against this team, who are in such good form, hardly concedes a chance in every single game – and I have watched many of them back… so many counter-attack threats, almost every game they have counter-attack after counter-attack after counter-attack. We conceded only one counter-attack here today in 98 minutes of football of total domination. Unfortunately for us, that ball immediately went in.”

Liverpool are still seven points ahead of second-place Nottingham in the Premier League with a game in hand. While this result had a sense of acceptance due to the defensive qualities of the opposition, the Reds are still riling from the previous draws.

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Their result against Fulham and Manchester United leaves a poor picture of their recent form despite the dominance in play. Furthermore, the start of 2025 now includes two draws and a loss with just one win against Accrington Stanley.

The Reds will face Brentford next in the away Premier League game on Saturday to rectify their form of 2025.