There’s Something Growing At Nottingham Forest with the current situation surrounding them as revealed by the head coach
Even when Nottingham Forest was the king of Europe, winning back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980, and in the years since, one thing has eluded the team since 1969. In those 55 years, Nottingham Forest had not beaten Liverpool at Anfield: 29 matches, seven draws, and 22 losses, across the Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup. Forest had been out of the Premier League since 1999, but since its return in 2022, the futility in Merseyside had continued, with two losses in two tries.
Nuno Espirito Santo proved Chris Sutton wrong in just 11 minutes during Nottingham Forest win vs Liverpool
Nuno Espirito Santo masterminded a wonderful Nottingham Forest win over Liverpool on Saturday.
It was the first time the Reds have won at the famous stadium since 1969 and Espirito Santo did something that not even Brian Clough was able to do.
Winning at Anfield is something that not many teams have been able to do at all in recent years but without Jurgen Klopp, perhaps Forest took advantage of some early transitional issues under Arne Slot.
Callum Hudson-Odoi scored his maiden goal of the campaign against Liverpool to stun the home crowd and help Forest towards a huge three points.
With Espirito Santo getting his game plan spot on, he proved a lot of his harshest critics wrong during the memorable Anfield clash.
Nuno Espirito Santo proves Chris Sutton wrong during clash with Liverpool
How pundits can change their minds. In the space of six minutes, Forest introduced both Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga into the fray – and it paid dividends.
The two wingers were introduced after both players were surprisingly dropped to the bench by Espirito Santo but still made a huge impact on the match at the weekend.
When they were introduced, Chris Sutton took to BBC Sport to share his concern about the substitutes – feeling they would benefit Liverpool more than Forest.
Forest’s 1-0 victory against a Liverpool side that had looked flawless through its first three games is remarkable, but it was not out of the realm of possibility entering Saturday. After a less-than-inspiring 17th place finish last season, in which the side scored the fourth-fewest goals in the league and gave up the fifth most, Forest went into the offseason with lots of room for improvement. While its most expensive signing, winger Elliot Anderson from Newcastle, has been merely good, the loanees James Ward-Prowse and left back Àlex Moreno made their debuts on Saturday, and made an immediate impact. Both players were among the standouts against Liverpool, with the former relieving pressure on the rare occasions Forest got the ball, and the latter making seven tackles en route to shutting Mohamed Salah out for the first time this season.
