Arne Slot might find little solace in knowing that many Liverpool fans had already exited before his team fell behind by three goals. Those who left early had witnessed enough—and, perhaps more tellingly, felt a sense of déjà vu.

The pressing questions now are how long this downward spiral will continue and whether Slot possesses the expertise to halt it. These inquiries are becoming increasingly loud, urgent, and aggressive as the team’s title defense seems to be fading rapidly.

Currently, the team has suffered six losses in their last seven matches. There are numerous statistics and observations that illustrate just how far and how swiftly this once-mighty team has declined.

Moreover, there’s the question of willpower—the determination to fight back. This was glaringly absent during the second goal, which was partially handed to Nicola Savona by a defense that failed to track Neco Williams’ run or muster the courage for a decisive tackle. It’s unfathomable to say this about a Liverpool side, yet the game footage doesn’t lie.

Where was the pride? Where was the resistance against a team that came in with some momentum but sat just above two teams in the standings? By the time Nottingham Forest finished their assault, they had achieved their largest-ever victory at Anfield, leaving Liverpool to grapple with a negative goal difference. The resounding boos from the stands were the only fitting send-off for the team that night.

Liverpool fell to an abject defeat by Nottingham Forest in their latest low of a poor season

Murillo celebrates scoring the opening goal for Forest in a game they were worthy winners of

Arne Slot’s champions were dreadful yet again and looked short of confidence and ideas

Unavoidably, this outcome will be viewed through the lens of Slot and a team that has significantly lost its direction.

But we should also talk about Sean Dyche and the quality of his work. Where Ange Postecoglou could only misplace his resources, Dyche has resurrected Forest by enabling his players to operate to their strengths.

It was best shown by Murillo, who was immense for reasons beyond a scoring contribution. He defended exceptionally, as did Nikola Milenkovic, which is not unrelated to the fact that they have been freed from a mindless requirement to keep to Postecoglou’s high line. Dyche’s genius has been in his embrace of simplicity.

But there was more. Elliot Anderson excelled, same as Morgan Gibbs-White, scorer of the third.

And yet so much of it was allowed by Liverpool’s deficiencies, which also saw a continuation of Alexander Isak’s struggles. His wait for a Premier League goal has now passed 202 days and this was a performance that offered zero silver lining to that statistic.

His inclusion was one of five changes made by Slot. Of the side trounced by Manchester City prior to the international break, Florian Wirtz, Conor Bradley, Andy Robertson and Giorgi Mamardashvili also stepped out for Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Milos Kerkez and Alisson Becker, starting for the first time in two months.

Some of the tweaking was enforced; some of it was desperation. In the nuts and bolts, it meant the use of Dominik Szoboszlai as a right back, which is well within his capabilities, as he has shown previously, but carried the consequence of stripping Slot’s midfield of his most reliable attacker.

The first half here was a case in point. Liverpool dominated possession and had the best of the chances, but yielded precious little, especially in the areas Szoboszlai usually populates. Curtis Jones, taking up the responsibility, produced very little. His relationship with Isak was also non-existent, but that traced mainly to the striker’s positioning – across the first 20 minutes he had a single touch.

Alisson looks dejected after conceding his side’s third goal of the game on Saturday

Forest celebrate the third goal of the game that put the result beyond any doubt 

For Liverpool, Alexander Isak (right) barely had a contribution to the match 

Of those who did cut through, their moments were fleeting. Mo Salah, for one. His best contribution was a superb run and pass for Milos Kerkez, who then botched the opportunity by scooping over the bar.

There were similar frustrations for Alexis Mac Allister, who had the first chance of the match but somehow saw it blocked on the line by Elliot Anderson. To be fair to Mac Allister, Anderson was everywhere, an omnipresent force in all parts of the pitch. His claim for a starting role at the World Cup with England is growing ever stronger.

From those interventions, Forest were able to burgle Liverpool with a first-half lead. 

The goal followed the familiar path of a set-piece, with Virgil Van Dijk heading Anderson’s delivery clear, but only as far as Murillo. With a touch to set himself, he curled low past Alisson.

The strike required a VAR check to ascertain if Alisson was unsighted by Dan Ndoye, who was hovering in front of him in an offside position. 

Unlike the City game, when Robertson was deemed to be interfering with play in a similar scenario, the goal stood and fostered a sense of injustice.

A moment later, that maybe faded a little when an Igor Jesus goal was disallowed for an iffy ruling that he had controlled with his arm. 

But the reprieve didn’t last long – within a minute of the second half, Forest got their second. Slot was furious and he had two good reasons.

Savona celebrates scoring for Forest after slotting a tidy finish for the visitors 

In the first instance, that meant Alexis Mac Allister’s failure to track Williams’s run – a blame shared with Salah – and in the second, the Argentine was weak in the challenge when he finally caught up to his man, prior to being turned. The ball to Savona was no less precise and the finish sufficient for breathing room.

Slot reacted by switching to a 4-3-3 but it only got worse, illustrated by a third goal when Omari Hutchinson lacerated Rio Ngumoha and Andy Robertson on the run before having his shot saved by Alisson. Gibbs-White, left all alone in the middle, buried the rebound.

Slot’s only blessing is that there was a reduced cast of witness by then.