Man City 3-0 Liverpool: Match Review
Liverpool face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League after the international break.
Arne Slot has the next 11 days to rectify Liverpool’s problems.
Anyone who felt that the Reds had remedied their issues following successive wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid were quickly brought back to reality. The 3-0 defeat at Manchester City underlined that Liverpool’s problems remain.
There is no shame in losing to City at the Etihad Stadium. But the first-half performance was a concern and epitomised why Liverpool have virtually fallen out of the Premier League title race after 11 games. The Reds look highly unlikely to defend the English championship for the first time since 1984.
In fairness, Slot does not have the silverware on his mind. Ensuring that Liverpool start winning on a consistent basis again is his priority. The Reds have lost five of their previous six league matches - and seven times in 10 games in all competitions. Liverpool’s recent form is akin to an outfit that battles relegation and not one that started as favourites to win back-to-back titles.
On paper, the Reds’ upcoming fixtures are more favourable. When the campaign recommences after the international break, Nottingham Forest visit Anfield on Saturday 22 November. Forest were the only one of two teams to beat Liverpool on their own patch last season. The other was Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain.
Forest enjoyed a superb 2024-25 season of their own as they finished sixth and qualified for the Europa League. But this term, it has been turbulent at the City Ground. The decision to sack head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was a shock. The call to axe Ange Postecoglou only 39 days into his tenure was not. As a result of the turmoil, Forest find themselves in an early battle for survival, having turned to Sean Dyche to take the reins.
Forest injury news
They are 19th in the table but did earn a 3-1 win over Leeds United last time out. That was despite Dyche admitting that his squad was ‘threadbare’ and the former Everton boss will be hoping that he can get some of his players back against Liverpool.
Among those absent against Leeds were last season’s top scorer Chris Wood, as well as key trio Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ola Aina and Juventus loanee Douglas Luiz. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Dilane Bakwa and back-up goalkeeper Angus Gunn were also unavailable.
What’s been said
While Dyche hopes that the international break will see some of his troops regain fitness, although they will need to ‘increase their training capacity’ before being available for selection. Via the Nottingham Post, Dyche said: “The international break comes at various times, we all know that. Sometimes people ask whether it puts you out of your stride when you’re winning and things like that. But there's no two ways about it, it’s come at a good time for us because of the injuries.
“It gives us that window without games. It doesn't mean they are going to miraculously get fit, but it just means there's no games to miss.
“If there is such a thing as speed in these situations then we'll try to do that, of course. But the body can only heal at a certain rate. Don't forget, it's not just about getting fit, they have then got to increase their training capacity to get back out there.
“This is the challenge. I knew the fixture list when I got here, I knew the current form, I knew the facts and stats, the analysis, lack of goals scored and lack of clean-sheets. We're trying to rebalance that.”
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