'Liverpool were awful', legend's harsh criticism after defeat to Nottingham Forest

It looked like Liverpool, with three consecutive wins, were recovering from a disastrous start to the campaign, but the Reds suffered their seventh Premier League defeat of the season on their visit to Nottingham Forest's City Ground and remain out of the European places (1-0). This provoked the annoyance of Reds legend Jamie Carragher, who said the team's performance was awful, especially Fabinho's performance, as well as stressing the need for Konaté to play.

'Liverpool were awful, what is going on with Fabinho. Konate is needed back ASAP!', tweeted the former Anfield player, after yet another defeat for Jürgen Klopp's team, who had no answer on the bench to solve all the problems on the pitch and the last-minute injuries to Thiago and Darwin Núñez.  With a set-piece, Steve Cooper's side broke down Liverpool's defence and wrecked the Reds' victories over Manchester City and West Ham.

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A second-half goal from Taiwo Awoniyi confirmed Liverpool's poor collective display, with Mohamed Salah missing and Roberto Firmino erratic. The last-minute withdrawals of Darwin Nunez and Thiago Alcantara disrupted Liverpool's starting XI, already hampered by injuries to Luis Diaz, Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konaté. After three straight wins, including one against Manchester City, the City Ground was a chance to see Liverpool's resurgence in an inconsistent season for Klopp's side.

But the Reds did not start with a sense of superiority. Forest, the worst team in the division so far, held them without too much trouble for 50 minutes and had their chances in front of Alisson Becker's goal. Shots from Kouyaté and Lingard had the Brazilian goalkeeper in trouble, but he made the few interventions that required his presence.  Up front, Liverpool relied on a deactivated Mohamed Salah, always with a man on top. The Egyptian, moreover, set alarm bells ringing when midway through the first half he went to ground and required medical assistance.

Liverpool move away from Champions League places

It was a deserved reward for a Forest side who had outplayed Liverpool in the early stages of the second half and could have killed the game seconds later when, in Liverpool's confusion, Morgan Gibbs-White was left alone in the box and his shot was desperately cleared off the line by James Milner. Ryan Yates also had a chance to finish, a one-on-one with five minutes remaining that Alisson saved spectacularly. Liverpool only came close at the break with a header from Alexander-Arnold and another from Van Dijk, saved by Henderson, but the 1-0 scoreline remained unchanged and Klopp's side are now on seven Premier League defeats, leaving them seventh, four points adrift of the Champions League.