MIRROR
A quickfire Liverpool double downed Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon at Anfield on Sunday.
Diogo Jota opened the scoring on the half-hour mark as he was the first to react to a Matt Turner save and slotted home from yards out. The lead was doubled just minutes later by Darwin Nunez from close range.
Mohamed Salah extended the advantage by polishing off a lethal Liverpool counter-attack follow an array of arrays from the visitors. Substitute Cody Gakpo thought he had rounded off the scoring in stoppage time but VAR chalked off his effort.
Forest struggled to lay a glove on their hosts throughout the afternoon as they slumped to a disappointing defeat. Here are all of the talking points as Liverpool make it back-to-back Premier League victories:
Jota responds in Diaz absence
After starting eight out of Liverpool’s opening nine Premier League matches before Sunday’s clash, Luis Diaz missed out entirely on Sunday. The Colombian was understandably left out amid the ongoing kidnapping situation involving his parents.
Instead, Nunez was drafted in, with Jota moved to the left. The Portuguese was the man to open the scoring as he found himself in acres of room to pounce for the opener after Matt Turner’s save from Nunez’s effort.
He immediately ran to the bench to retrieve a Diaz shirt, dedicating his goal to his Colombian teammate in the process. The strike also represented his sixth goal in just five career appearances against Nottingham Forest.
Nunez keeps up hot form
After Jota’s opener, it was only a matter of time before strike partner Nunez got on the scoresheet. The former Benfica man shone during the midweek Europa League win against French side Toulouse.
Whilst he was at his chaotic best in Europe, his finish this time around was relatively simple as he tapped home from Dominik Szoboszlai’s low centre. It takes Nunez’s record this season to six goals and five assists in just 13 outings, while he has contributed to a goal in each of his last four Premier League appearances.
Boss Jurgen Klopp will be keen to see him extend that excellent form throughout the remainder of the campaign as the Reds attempt to regain a spot back in the Champions League.
Szboszlai the creator
For all of Liverpool’s summer signings, Hungarian playmaker Szboszlai looks to be the pick of the bunch. Since his arrival from RB Leipzig, he had scored twice, with fans waiting to see the creative side to his game.
After all, he had laid on 13 goals in all competitions during his final season in Germany. Like the proverbial buses, the 23-year-old very quickly had two assists to his name. He at first fired in a low ball for Nunez to score. His clearance then picked out Salah and he raced through to make it 3-0.
