Liverpool have suffered serious damage ahead of the Champions League game against Ajax. The Premier League No. 7 had to recognize his superiors in Nottingham Forest’s last game on Saturday: 1-0.

As surprising as the result seemed at first glance, the defeat of the “Reds” did not come out of the blue for the statisticians. Liverpool played at City Ground Stadium, home of Forest, for the sixth time in Premier League history. Like Saturday, Liverpool failed to win any of those five previous encounters on the banks of the River Trent. Also this season the team of coach Jürgen Klopp could not convert a single game into a win.

Injured Blazon

It was the first time since April 1999 that the two teams had played each other again. Forest looked like the ideal team for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to spruce up the damaged crest. The last number in the Premier League has endured a difficult season, with just one win and three draws up until Saturday.

However, manager Steve Cooper’s home line-up took heart from their draw against Brighton earlier this week. Although Liverpool were the dominant side, especially in the first 45 minutes with 74% possession, they were unable to express this dominance in goals.

Contrary to the field ratio, it was Nottingham Forest who opened the scoring in the 54th minute. Nigerian Taiwo Awoniyi, who played eighteen games on loan in the 2016-2017 season in the NEC shirt and was relegated from the Eredivisie with that club, completed a fine Forest attack in two innings.

Three header chances

Liverpool insisted nonetheless, but with an almost invisible Mo Salah it turned out they couldn’t salvage at least a point in the game from an offensive perspective. Virgil van Dijk created three header chances throughout the game, but couldn’t break the spell either.

For Nottingham Forest, the win over Liverpool marked the end of a difficult run. Since defeating West Ham United in August, the team have drawn three times and lost six. Especially against Liverpool the team managed to recover. Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder will have rubbed his hands.