Liverpool’s journey towards the end of the campaign feels very much like a crawl now. Slow, lethargic, at times pained. But could Rio Ngumoha offer the timely spark?
Liverpool’s first-half performance against Nottingham Forest on Sunday was like pulling teeth. A difficult, laboured process that nobody wished to be part of.
The final whistle signalled a smash-and-grab three points result, but this wasn’t a wily scalp pulled off by a team who knows how to win.
That was the Liverpool of last season, a side drunk on forward momentum and oozing a consistent blend of calm and chaos.
3DTHW2J Nottingham, UK. 22nd Feb, 2026. Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool celebrates his goal to make it 0-1 which is later overturned by VAR during the Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool Premier League match at the City Ground, Nottingham. Picture credit should read: Gareth Evans/Sportimage Credit: Sportimage Ltd/Alamy Live News
The Reds are simply getting through games now and the campaign has become one glorified mathematical equation – achieve the desired points total to secure Champions League football.
Ultimately, it’s the right approach, given the European and FA Cups are still to play for. Liverpool just need to keep tallying off the domestic games now and fashion out victories while working out exactly what sort of Premier League outfit they wish to be going forward.
But Sunday’s last-gasp win does, however, provide some points of concern.
Why did Liverpool lack energy against Nottingham Forest after a week between games?
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - Sunday, February 22, 2026: Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch (R) challenges Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson during the FA Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and Liverpool FC at the City Ground. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
It wouldn’t be unfair to question what exactly Liverpool had done for the past week. Much was made about Forest putting Turkish giants Fenerbahce to the sword on Thursday night, in Istanbul, and returning to the field exactly the same team just two days later.
Yet Arne Slot’s men had half the week off. A period of rest and recovery, of tactical fine-tweaking. And yet only one side appeared energised for the first 45 minutes inside the City Ground.
As Jamie Carragher rightly noted in his post-match assessment, the first half was worthy of being deemed Liverpool’s worst of the season. It says a lot.
The last-minute knock to Florian Wirtz clearly served to throw Liverpool’s entire plan out of kilter. The German wizard missed the fixture earlier in the season when Forest, then under Sean Dyche, pulled off a 3-0 win in perhaps Anfield’s lowest moment of the campaign.
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“The first half was really poor, the worst we’ve played until now I think.”
Arne Slot
Without Wirtz Liverpool looked lost, stripped of their magic key to unlock a robust and physical back line. In the absence of the 22-year-old, the Reds lost a dimension, became pedestrian in midfield and gave up the ball again and again as a result of not knowing their intended target.
Curtis Jones, still shedding rust after expecting another match on the bench, was caught unaware and put in a first-half performance worthy of an early shower.
So, how has it come to this? It has to be questioned what has been worked on in training. Forest had something of a card up their sleeve with the introduction of new manager Vitor Pereira, but Liverpool had an abundance of time.
Forest are the archetypal team Liverpool really do not want to be facing right now. Big, bold and compact, embroiled in the relegation battle and fighting for their lives.
It’s a testament to the Reds that they somehow got the job done, but for the saves of Alisson and the VAR sideshow, we very easily could now be digesting one of the most banal goalless draws of the season.
Rio Ngumoha has shown the time for him to start for Liverpool is now
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, January 4, 2026: Liverpool's substitute Rio Ngumoha during the FA Premier League match between Fulham FC and Liverpool FC at Craven Cottage. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
It’s getting past the awkward point now and into the tense territory. It’s painfully clear that young Rio Ngumoha needs more game time.
The 17-year-old makes an impact every single time he’s handed a chance, and Liverpool get closer to three points as a result.
Following his late cameo introduction alongside Federico Chiesa, Ngumoha was direct, daring and a huge component behind the eventual win. His delicately weighted cross, which Hugo Ekitike should have headed home late on, was a thing of art.
There will always be a huge argument for managing the minutes of young, highly talented footballers. Liverpool are certainly doing this, but the layers of bubble wrap are now far too tightly applied.
We’re approaching the end of February, and there are 11 league fixtures to play. This isn’t a case of flogging a precocious talent and overworking his supple hamstrings to death.
Stat (via FotMob) Rio Ngumoha Mo Salah
Minutes Played 13 77
Successful Dribbles 2/3 (67%) 0 (0%)
Expected Assists (xA) 0.42 0.23
Touches in Opp. Box 1 2
Accurate Crosses 1/1 (100%) 0/4 (0%)
Chances Created 1 1
Had Ngumoha been selected relentlessly since his last-gasp winner against Newcastle way back at the start of the season, there would be a huge bank of evidence to suggest Liverpool are ruining their gem.
But we’re seeing the opposite. Opportunities are coming few and far between, yet they’re always being taken by the former Chelsea wonderkid.
The scenes at the City Ground spoke huge volumes; both Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah withdrawn with faux astonishment and sarcastic smiles, only to be replaced by a teenager who provided more in his 20-minute run out than both of them had all game.
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - Sunday, February 22, 2026: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah is substituted off during the FA Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and Liverpool FC at the City Ground. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
There is a lot more to 90 minutes of football than running directly at your marker, cutting inside or fizzing in a cross.
Of course, Ngumoha still has heaps to learn when it comes to elite-level game management, pressing, set-piece arrangement, etc., but to still be drip-feeding such measly chances to a player who looks like he can make Liverpool win every time he plays is beginning to make less and less sense.
Liverpool’s injury crisis and lack of squad depth on full show
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - Sunday, February 22, 2026: Liverpool's Cody Gakpo (L), Mohamed Salah and Milos Kerkez on the bench after being substituted off during the FA Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and Liverpool FC at the City Ground. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Liverpool have struggled terribly with injuries this season. It’s a far cry from the last campaign when the Reds remained rosy and reporting clean bills of health, with Ruben Peeters praised far and wide.
Karma has rolled the dice again, and Liverpool are depleted.
It happens in football, but it feels like a huge wake-up call. Perhaps one that the Liverpool hierarchy didn’t see coming.
The substitutes bench upon kick-off at Forest spelled concern; Marmardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Robertson, Ramsay, Nyoni, Ngumoha, Morrison, and Chiesa. It’s a lack of depth that hasn’t been seen for quite some time.
Liverpool’s subs bench vs. Nottingham Forest
Player Age Total LFC Apps
Giorgi Mamardashvili 25 11
Freddie Woodman 28 1
Joe Gomez 28 261
Andy Robertson 31 367
Calvin Ramsay 22 4
Trey Nyoni 18 13
Rio Ngumoha 17 16
Kieran Morrison 18 1
Federico Chiesa 28 42
The club has talented names coming through, but the power of the supporting cast is not enough to strike fear into the hearts of Premier League foes – the same foes who already see Liverpool as a side with a vulnerable underbelly.
It’s highly expected that more personnel will be recruited in the summer window to address this issue, but the quiet fear among fans remains in the form of Liverpool not quite having their shop in order.
The starting XI needs to be bulletproof in approach and crystal clear in its style of play, with the depth of additional talent feeding into that model thereafter.
Right now, Liverpool appear to have neither. Three points away at Forest are a huge boost, but the eerie takeaway from yet another unpleasant match feels more like a warning sign than a success point.
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