It’s fair to say that Liverpool did not take their good recent form into Sunday’s clash against Nottingham Forest.
There has been cause for positivity of late for the Reds, with impressive back-to-back performances against Sunderland and Brighton breathing life into the campaign.
But Forest has always been a difficult fixture for Liverpool. One win in their past 15 matches at the City Ground tells its own story and they have also suffered against the Reds at Anfield.
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Mohamed Salah shakes Arne Slot's hand as he comes off during Liverpool's Premier League match against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground (Credit: Getty Images/Liverpool FC).
Photo Creidt; Getty Images/Liverpool FC
Sunday’s game began in much the same vein. Penned in and unable to deal with Vitor Pereira’s side physically, Liverpool failed to get into the game at all during a tepid first-half.
But despite the match being littered with some truly dismal Liverpool performances, Virgil van Dijk earned praise for the way he stood up to be counted.
Van Dijk hailed for ‘class act’ vs Forest
As he usually is, Van Dijk has been central to Liverpool’s good form lately, continuing to play virtually every minute at centre-back.
He was not always tidy during the opening exchanges against Forest, but he did make more than one crucial interception, including one which stopped a certain Igor Jesus goal.
Virgil van Dijk challenges Igor Jesus for the ball during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the City Ground
Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images
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For that he was given a positive review from BBC Sport pundit Pat Nevin, who hailed the captain as being ‘easily’ Liverpool’s best player.
“Virgil van Dijk is such a class act,” said the former Chelsea player.
“You think when he leaves he’ll be so difficult to replace and he’s easily been the best player in white for Liverpool today.”
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Nottingham Forest v Liverpool - Premier League
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Did anyone else impress?
Sadly, Van Dijk did not have much competition to be Liverpool’s best player on Sunday.
Ibrahima Konate continued his good form alongside the Dutchman, and Alisson Becker came to the Reds’ rescue with a fantastic one-on-one save to deny Callum Hudson-Odoi. But, other than that, there was not much to be positive about.
Milos Kerkez wasn’t bad, but still looked vulnerable on occasion, while the likes of Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch struggled badly.
Even Van Dijk, so hailed by Nevin, looked all at sea at times when trying to deal with Forest’s pacy attack. He may have been Liverpool’s best, but that was not an especially high bar to clear.
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