Liverpool were held to a draw for the second consecutive week as Nottingham Forest twice took the lead before the Reds fought back to secure a 2-2 result at Anfield. Goals from Alexander Isak and a late equaliser from Victor Munoz rescued a point in a hard-fought and entertaining encounter.
The Reds had been forced to settle for a point at St James' Park on the opening day, when Dominik Szoboszlai scored with the last kick of the game following a soft penalty award. In response, the club has agreed a £123million deal with PSG for the signing of Bradley Barcola.
Gakpo's switch hints at Barcola's role
Cody Gakpo, linked with Manchester City and Spurs, started on the right despite having played virtually his whole career off the left. The decision offered insight into Iraola's thinking, with Victor Munoz starting on the left. Barcola can operate on either wing, but Gakpo's switch could hint that the Frenchman may play off the right and partner Munoz.
After 20 minutes, Liverpool had no shots on goal compared to Forest's four and had only one touch inside the penalty box. The Reds were flat and deservedly fell behind when Dan Ndoye found the far corner of Alisson's net for his first goal since the opening day of last season.
Reds struggle before half-time
Alexis Mac Allister was selected over Ryan Gravenberch to bring stability to midfield but was outmuscled in a duel with Igor Jesus, who plucked the ball out of the sky in the build-up. Liverpool thought they had equalised when Florian Wirtz found the far corner after Murillo gave the ball away, but Jeremie Frimpong was offside and VAR disallowed the strike.
Iraola's side improved as half-time approached, with Wirtz forcing Matz Sels to tip his header over the bar. Munoz then went close with an effort on the turn, but Isak miscontrolled the ball when unmarked 12 yards out with just his fifth touch of the half. Alisson produced a brilliant stop to push Jesus' six-yard snapshot onto the bar to keep the deficit at one goal.
Second-half fightback and late winner
Liverpool looked more up for the fight after the break but still lacked quality in the final third, shown by Munoz's yellow card for dissent. Just as Iraola was set to make a triple change, Gakpo's strength saw him roll Neco Williams and square the ball for Isak, who broke his duck with a simple finish.
Despite the three subs lined up, Iraola waited 10 minutes too long to introduce them. Forest went down the other end to win a penalty after Alisson was late diving at Williams' feet, and Morgan Gibbs-White scored from the spot. Iraola then brought on Rio Ngumoha, Ryan Gravenberch and Kostas Tsimikas before the ball was in play again.
Iraola made his final two subs five minutes later, introducing Trey Nyoni for Mac Allister and Ronaldo Araujo for Jeremy Jacquet. Despite his assist, Gakpo was taken off and Munoz moved to the right, where he found space between Williams and Murillo before firing into the roof of the net via the crossbar and a deflection off Murillo's block to secure the draw.
