Mo Salah left frustrated by Julian Ward decision as Liverpool unearth new centre-back option

Liverpool had to come from behind to earn a share of the spoils against Premier League title rivals Nottingham Forest.

The Reds battled to a 1-1 draw to remain six points clear at the summit of the table, with Diogo Jota’s second-half header cancelling out Chris Wood’s early opener. Here, we’ve picked out the three main talking points from Liverpool’s performance.

Jota delivers again

It was the change many fans would have been calling for at the interval. To be frank, it was a surprise Slot left it so late. Liverpool’s blunted first-half performance raised questions of whether they’d fail to break down Forest for a second time this season - and be condemned to a second league loss.

Luis Diaz struggled as a makeshift striker in the opening period, with the Colombia international dropping deep too frequently and was limited to a wild long-range effort.

It took 20 minutes into the second half for Jota to finally be introduced. And 22 seconds later, he headed home the equaliser. Jota is Liverpool’s Johnny-on-the-spot and it’s no coincidence that he is afforded goalscoring chances when he plays. Such is the Portugal international’s intelligent movement, he finds space away from the opponent’s defence. Forest centre-half Murillo has gobbled everything that was thrown his way before Jota’s introduction.

On another day, he could have had a hat-trick only for the heroics of Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels. But it underlined that Jota needs to return to the starting line-up now he’s been back for around a month after a rib injury.

Gravenberch shows his flexibility

Jamie Carragher has called on Liverpool to bring in a new defender in January. In recent games against Manchester United, Tottenham and now Forest, they have not looked as sturdy as at the beginning of the campaign. The Reds have been more porous given that they have recorded a solitary clean sheet in their previous eight games (excluding the FA Cup win over League Two Accrington Stanley).

Andy Robertson’s form continues to stutter and Ibrahima Konate, who admitted pre-match that he’s not yet 100 per cent after returning from a knee injury, didn’t quite look up to speed. But in fairness to Ryan Gravenberch, he was excellent when asked to operate as a makeshift defender following Konate’s withdrawal.

Gravenberch didn’t have his finest game in midfield, having been the linchpin of the Premier League title assault. But he showed his prowess in unfamiliar territory for the second time this term after being moved into defence during a 2-2 draw against Fulham last month when Robertson was sent off.

Slot seemingly felt Virgil van Dijk could handle Wood in a one-on-one scenario and moved Gravenberch for his ball-playing prowess against a low block. If other opponents deploy such tactics, it is a viable option for the Netherlands international to be utilised in the rearguard again.

Salah left frustrated by former team-mate

For only the third time this term, Mo Salah finished a Premier League game without a goal or an assist. In both encounters against Forest, he has failed to make his mark. Liverpool’s talisman did come to life in the closing stages of the second half, having one fierce shot blocked on the line by Ola Aina and producing another good save from Sels.

But in terms of his overall impact, Salah struggled. He lacked his usual creativity from open play and a significant reason why because of Neco Williams’ defensive performance. The Forest left-back made 33 appearances for Liverpool after coming through the club’s academy and shared the pitch 22 times with Salah. Williams was sold to Forest for around £17 million in 2022 and was deemed sage business by then-sporting director Julian Ward.

However, Salah was left frustrated by his former team-mate. At times, he may well have rued Ward’s decision to part ways with Williams.

New Year form

Liverpool knew Forest were one of the top-performing sides in the league ahead of kick-off. Going on their travels, most supporters would have taken the Reds accruing a point. A stalemate against the team third in the table is always a positive.

No-one could have predicted Slot’s men to have such a sizeable gap at the summit after 20 fixtures not losing only once in that time. But Liverpool have picked up just one win since the turn of the year against Accrington. Two points have been yielded from as many league fixtures while a narrow 1-0 loss suffered at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.

Liverpool’s form has scarcely jettisoned but they will not want to go without a triumph over top-flight opposition for much longer. Plenty have predicted the Reds will have a spluttering run at some point. If a win at Brentford on Saturday is secured, perhaps the recent cluster of matches will be that period. However, the Bees have been immense at home and fought from two goals behind to earn a 2-2 draw against Manchester City. Another big test is in the offiing.