Liverpool need to keep cool as Premier League title race tightens

NOTTINGHAM, England — Arne Slot isn’t any stranger to being serenaded on the touchline. Adored at earlier membership Feyenoord Rotterdam, the Liverpool head coach has rapidly grown accustomed to listening to supporters at Anfield — and in away finally ends up and down the nation — singing his praises from the terraces as his crew have so masterfully swept practically all earlier than them.

However on Tuesday night time, it was the Nottingham Forest followers who made Slot the topic of their attentions as Nuno Espirito Santo’s facet battled to halt their guests’ march towards the Premier League title, holding Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at The Metropolis Floor.

“Arne Slot, it is occurring once more!” crowed the Forest followers after Chris Wooden notched his thirteenth league aim of the season to offer the hosts the lead inside eight minutes. Certainly, for greater than an hour of this contest, it seemed as if Forest had been about to inflict simply Liverpool’s second league defeat of the season, having additionally dispatched Slot’s males at Anfield in September.

That Liverpool fought again to clinch a valuable level, secured through a 66th-minute header from Diogo Jota, is a testomony to each the Reds’ character and high quality. Nevertheless, Tuesday night time’s epic at The Metropolis Floor supplied additional proof — if it had been wanted — that there are nonetheless lots extra twists and turns to come back on this title race.

If, on the eve of this Premier League season, this recreation had been billed as a possible title decider, few would have been inclined to take discover. In spite of everything, Forest completed final time period in seventeenth place, simply six factors exterior of the relegation zone.

It’s for that motive September’s shock triumph at Anfield induced such a stir, with even Slot himself conceding Liverpool’s conquerors that day “don’t usually find yourself within the prime 10.” However that win has since proved to be greater than a flash within the pan, with Forest having continued to impress, defying expectation to climb as much as second within the desk.

A victory in opposition to the league leaders on Tuesday would have seen Forest transfer to inside three factors of the highest spot, and maybe that prospect was weighing closely on the minds of Slot’s gamers as they toiled on the banks of the River Trent.

Admittedly, it has not been a very glad new 12 months for Liverpool. After bidding farewell to 2024 with a press release victory in opposition to strugglers West Ham United, the primary two weeks of 2025 have seen cracks begin to seem within the Reds’ beforehand impenetrable armour.

Liverpool’s 4-0 victory over League Two facet Accrington Stanley on the weekend was their first win for the reason that flip of the 12 months, following a pulsating draw with Manchester United within the league and a slim defeat to Tottenham Hotspur within the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinals.

In opposition to Forest, all of the early indicators appeared to level to Liverpool’s descent right into a mini-crisis as a mix of poor decision-making and erratic ending meant Slot’s facet headed into the interval with out having registered a single shot on track.

Liverpool did enhance barely after the break, nevertheless it wasn’t till Slot turned to his bench that his crew had been in a position to make the breakthrough. The introduction of Jota and Kostas Tsimikas, rather than Ibrahima Konaté and Andy Robertson, proved to be a masterstroke as, simply 22 seconds after the substitution was made, Liverpool had been stage; Jota having headed residence from Tsimikas’ nook.

After that, Slot’s facet appeared to get well among the swagger that has outlined a lot of their season so far, with solely the interventions of an impressed Matz Sels within the Forest aim and a few admirable last-ditch defending retaining Liverpool at bay.

“I could not have requested for extra at the moment,” Slot admitted in his post-match information convention. “I believe that most individuals would speak actually positively in regards to the second half however in case you play at this floor in opposition to this crew who’re in such good kind, who hardly concede an opportunity in each single recreation, and have so many counter-attack threats .. we conceded just one counter-attack at the moment in 98 minutes of soccer. That is whole domination.”

Whereas these of a Forest persuasion would possibly beg to vary with Slot’s assertion, Liverpool’s second-half show at the least ensures they preserve their six-point cushion on the prime of the desk. The league leaders not seem infallible however one take a look at the remainder of Tuesday night time’s outcomes is irrefutable proof that they don’t must be.

Each Manchester Metropolis and Chelsea dropped factors whereas Arsenal, who will face bitter rivals Tottenham on Wednesday, have additionally seemed a way off their finest in latest weeks, with striker Gabriel Jesus now having joined stricken talisman Bukayo Saka on the sidelines.

Forest, after all, stay a risk, having proved on Tuesday that they’re able to going toe-to-toe with the easiest.

“I do not assume they’re right here due to luck,” Slot conceded. “For each crew, they’re troublesome to play in opposition to. They’ve already had some troublesome away video games, in opposition to United, Metropolis, Arsenal, us. That exhibits you that they’re a crew that may compete within the prime finish of the league desk.”

However whereas Forest and Co. will preserve making use of the stress, Liverpool should merely look to maintain their heads. It won’t be the procession to the title that seemed to be taking form just some weeks in the past however, for now at the least, Slot’s facet stay firmly within the driving seat.