Liverpool 0-1 Forest: Slot facing test, Salah contract reminder

Arne Slot was given plenty to ponder by the first major setback of his Anfield reign on Saturday.

Photo: IMAGO | Anfield Index

Liverpool suffered their first defeat under Arne Slot as they were beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest at Anfield.

The Reds looked like a side whose momentum had been halted by international break as they laboured in attack.

And they were punished late in the second half as Callum Hudson-Odoi thrashed home to claim Forest’s first Anfield win since 1969.

Arne Slot faces first real test

It had all been a little too easy for Arne Slot up to this point, hadn’t it?

But now the Dutchman faces the first major test of his reign in not only picking his players up from a shock defeat but also solving the problems seen during these 90 minutes.

Across their first three outings of the season, Liverpool had consistently found ways to play through the opposition formation and get themselves close enough to goal to make their quality count.

But faced with three hard-working midfielders in front of a compact back four, they generated a measly 0.87 xG from 14 shots.

The problem for Slot is that other Premier League teams will have watched this game with interest and will now know that clogging up the middle of the park is the way to beat his teams.

Quite how he responds to that will be fascinating, and will likely have a significant say in how successful he is at Anfield.

Salah offers contract reminder

Had you asked any Liverpool fan prior to this game about Mohamed Salah’s contract situation, they would doubtless have demanded he be given another full three years at his current £350,000-per-week rate.