Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest Player Ratings; Callum Hudson-Odoi stars as Forest Claims a historic Anfield Win.

Nottingham Forest secures a remarkable 1-0 victory over Liverpool at the iconic Anfield, courtesy of Callum Hudson Odoi’s second-half strike to hand them their first defeat and significant upset of the Premier League 2024-25 season. 

It is the first time that Forest have managed a win at Anfield since 1969, almost after 55 years. This narrow 1-0 setback came as the first defeat for Arne Slot as Liverpool boss following three wins in the initial three League games. They lacked sharpness in build-ups and failed to break Forest’s defence. 

The Visitors extended their unbeaten run in the League, with two wins and two draws. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side smartly dealt with Liverpool, despite being dominated by the Hosts in Ball possession and attacks. After a humble start in the first half Forest came out as Winners in the latter half. 

Liverpool Player Ratings vs Nottingham Forest 

Goalkeeper 

Alisson Becker – 6.5/10: He did not face much of problems in goal in the first half and made a couple of saves. However, the keeper could not do much about Hudson Odoi’s fantastically struck goal in the second half. 

Defenders 

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10: Arnold played a dynamic role in the match switching into midfield as an inverted fullback to reverting to right-back duties and created four chances. Played as a midfielder in the second half yet remained ineffective. 

Virgil van Dijk – 6.5/10: Dominated duels and attentively cleared any dangers in and around the box and made 9 clearances in total and two interceptions. Van Dijk often moved up to help the team to create chances. 

Ibrahima Konate – 6.5/10: Overall a solid 75 minutes of outing from the French defender stood tall in the backline with his clearances and composure. He had a 100% record of winning aerial duels. 

Andrew Robertson – 6.5/10: The Scotsman was covering the left flank with his work rate and making overlapping runs. His attacking traits led to one-chance creation as well. 

Midfielders

Ryan Gravenberch – 6.5/10: Apart from a few missed passes, he looked decent on the ball and played 12 passes into the final third. Was also involved in delivering long balls and crosses along with registering a shot on target. 

Alexis Mac-Allister – 6/10: The Argentine International’s return to club duty did not go well, was involved in an hour of action before getting subbed off due to fitness concerns. Besides a few glimpses of quality passes 

Mohamed Salah – 6.5/10: Surely not his day!! Despite his best efforts in attack, he was unable to score after two shots on target. Salah’s role was restricted by Forest defenders, especially Alex Moreno who did not let him roam freely closing down any single inch of space on the pitch. 

Dominik Szoboszlai – 6.5/10: Created three chances for the Reds and even came close to scoring with his head on Salah’s cross in the first half. Moreover, a late effort in the Forest penalty box was denied by a block from Murillo. 

Luiz Diaz – 6.5/10: Diaz started exactly from where he left off in the Premier League with his threatening runs and clever movements into half-spaces. He even came close to breaking the deadlock but was taken off at the 60th-minute mark. 

Forwards 

Diego Jota – 6/10: Jota missed a big chance, and took a few touches in the opposition’s box but lacked sharpness in his play. Made way for Darwin Nunez in the second half of the match. 

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Substitutes 

Darwin Nunez -5.5/10: He had no major impact upfront apart from a few passes.

Conor Bradley -5/10: He struggled to guard the right flanks with Forest attackers exploiting his vulnerability eventually led to the goal. 

Cody Gakpo -6/10: Attempted a successful dribble and accurate passes but the goal was expected

Kostas Tsimikas -6/10: An okayish quarter of a cameo had a 100% passing accuracy

Curtis Jones -5.5/10: Jones was not able to do much with a lacklustre appearance. 

Manager 

Arne Slot – 6.5/10: The Dutch manager’s sensational campaign took a hit, despite a strong start they were unable to break Forest’s defence. Overall, his side looked rusty in build-ups and attacks. The choices of substitutions also did not work out for him, needs to rectify mistakes in upcoming games. 

Nottingham Forest Player Ratings vs Liverpool 

Goalkeeper 

Matz Sels – 8/10: A Man of the Match performence at the back for the tricky trees, Sels made five key saves, as his strong hands and stretched diving saves prevented Liverpool from opening their goal tally and kept a clean sheet. 

Defenders 

Ola Aina – 7.5/10: The Super Eagles right back probably had one of the best outings in the Premier League. Aina had a perfect 100% success rate in passing, dribbling, long balls and tackles. 

Nikola Milenkovic – 7.5/10: Once again proved his credentials and proved why Forest bought him to bolster their backline, maintained a clean sheet 

Murillo – 7.5/10: The Brazilian was solid with the ball recoveries and made a crucial block in the final minutes to prevent Szoboszlai. 

Alex Moreno – 7.5/10: Moreno did an excellent job in keeping Mohamed Salah quiet. He won 7 duels in defence and closed him down preventing him from taking on the defence and taking a direct shot at the goal.

Midfielder 

Ryan Yates – 7/10: Yates did a commendable job in the midfield winning duels, making some key recovering and clearances. He also got booked for a challenge.

Nicolás Dominguez – 6.5/10: With just 54 minutes of game time he did well and was all over the pitch when Nottingham Forest had the ball possession. 

Elliot Anderson -7 /10: Another impressive performance from Elliot cementing his place in the midfield set up of Nuno Espirito convincingly through his consistency.

Morgan Gibbs-White – 6.5/10: He missed two big chances first of which was 1vs1 up against Alisson after a perfectly weighted pass found him breaking Liverpool’s defence line. He should have finished that chance but was excellent in work rate. 

James Ward-Prowse – 6.5/10: A decent performance from the loanee, even though his set-pieces did not do much damage to Liverpool he was still a handful. 

Forwards 

Chris Wood – 6.5/10: Wood was good in hold-up plays and won a corner alongwith shot on target. 

Substitutes 

Callum Hudson Odoi -7.5/10: Scored the winner, and brought new life into the Forest attack. 

Anthony Elanga -7/10: Looked lively on wide, combined with Odoi to snatch the victory against Liverpool by providing the assist. 

Nico Williams – N/A

Manager 

Nuno Espírito Santo – 8/10: The Portuguese tactician nailed it with his masterplan to pull off the major setback against the superior opposition to create history. Gave respect to opponents before waiting for the right opportunity to punish them with their counterattacks. Elanga’s and Hudson Odoi’s introduction was a key decision by Nuno. 

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