Ian Doyle highlighted one moment which he felt summed up Liverpool’s frustrating first half against Nottingham Forest this afternoon.
The Reds welcomed Steve Cooper’s side to Anfield hoping to avenge the 1-0 defeat at the City Ground earlier in the season and build on last Monday’s 6-1 thrashing of Leeds.
Unsurprisingly, Jurgen Klopp’s team dominated territory and possession in the first half, but they couldn’t find a way past Keylor Navas prior to half-time.
In the 41st minute, a Liverpool attack saw Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo combine brilliantly, with the latter playing Trent Alexander-Arnold into space in the Forest penalty area, only for a heavy first touch to force the ball out of play and roll out for a goal kick.
Doyle, who’s providing updates on the match via Twitter, said of that moment: “Alexander-Arnold is released into the area by Gakpo but a poor touch takes it out of play. Sums up the first half for #LFC”
READ MORE: (Video) Forest fans teach Liverpool’s rivals lesson in class with banner unveiling
The first half statistics clearly show how dominant the Reds have been in almost every factor except the most important one, namely the scoreboard.
As per Sofascore, Liverpool had 86% possession before half-time, 10 shots to the visitors’ one, an xG of 1.18 to Forest’s 0.03 and 386 passes attempted to just 63 for their opponents. In fact, four players for the home side completed more passes than the 32 managed by Cooper’s entire team in the first 45 minutes.
However, Trent running the ball out of play indeed encapsulates how frustrating it’s been for Klopp’s men, with Diogo Jota culpable of a bad miss and Virgil van Dijk thwarted by a splendid save from Keylor Navas.
The Reds need to keep being positive but with a more clinical edge to their play if they’re to follow up the Leeds result with the three points necessary to put pressure on the other teams in the chase for fourth position.
You can see Doyle’s tweet below, via @IanDoyleSport on Twitter:
Alexander-Arnold is released into the area by Gakpo but a poor touch takes it out of play. Sums up the first half for #LFC
— Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport) April 22, 2023