Liverpool came from behind twice for the second time in a week to earn a point in an entertaining draw with Nottingham Forest which showed all the flaws Andoni Iraola needs to address. The Reds drew 2-2 against Newcastle on Sunday and followed it up with another 2-2 thanks to Victor Munoz's rocket.
Dan Ndoye put Forest in front with a controlled finish into the bottom corner after Liverpool failed to deal with a long ball straight down the pitch. Florian Wirtz thought he'd equalised with a low shot on the spin, only for VAR to confirm that Jeremie Frimpong had been offside in the build-up. It was then nearly 2-0 to Forest, only for Alisson to produce a stunning save to keep out Igor Jesus.
Isak and Munoz strike back
Anfield was showing plenty of frustration when, out of the blue, Alexander Isak tapped in a perfect back-post cross from Cody Gakpo on the hour-mark. The good times didn't last for the home side, with Morgan Gibbs-White making it 2-1 from the penalty spot after Alisson tripped Neco Williams following a quick throw-in.
Liverpool bounced back again, however, when Munoz spun on Wirtz's line-splitting pass and smashed a powerful effort in via the underside of the crossbar.
Jacquet enters the chaos
The opening stages at Anfield saw Jeremy Jacquet at the forefront of the action. Liverpool's new centre-back started well, blocking two shots and clearing another dangerous ball, before it all went wrong.
It was the £55million signing who played Igor Jesus onside from Matz Sels's long kick. He then got attracted to the ball, leaving Ndoye free on the edge of the box, with right-back Frimpong and right winger Cody Gakpo nowhere to be seen. Wearing the No.5 shirt previously occupied by compatriot Ibrahima Konate, there were similarly chaotic vibes coming from the Liverpool defence.
Isak off the boil - then scores
This was supposed to be the season that Alexander Isak began to repay his £125million transfer fee. The 2025/26 campaign was impacted by a non-existent pre-season (of his own making) and injuries. But there are no longer any plausible excuses.
The Swede suffered a fractured ankle and fibula in December and for the first 60 minutes the worries grew over whether he will ever return to his red-hot Newcastle form. There were no promising signs initially, with Isak brushed off the ball by Jair Cunha in a 50/50 and otherwise largely anonymous, right up until Gakpo put a goal on a plate for him.
Glasner blueprint clear
Oliver Glasner has brought his favoured tactical system with him to Forest and their wingback-focused play was evident at Anfield. Ola Aina and Williams are well-suited to the wingback position, but it was James McAtee who caught the eye and controlled things in the middle of the pitch.
McAtee joined Forest from Manchester City last summer for a fee which could reach £30m and appears set to benefit from the departure of Elliot Anderson in the opposite direction. The diminutive midfielder is at his best with the ball at his feet and showed plenty of nice touches to claim the TNT Sports' man of the match award.
Gakpo has to stay
Gakpo has become a divisive player among Liverpool fans, but he's shown his worth already this season, rifling a long-range goal in at St James' Park last weekend before setting up the Isak goal here.
Gakpo has transfer attention from Manchester City and Tottenham and his future is up in the air ahead of the 11pm deadline on Tuesday night. Liverpool may have agreed a £123m deal for Bradley Barcola, but Munoz and Rio Ngumoha could do with keeping Gakpo as a teammate.
Iraola short of firepower
Iraola made all five substitutions while chasing the game in the second half. On came Ngumoha, Kostas Tsimikas, Ryan Gravenberch, Ronald Araujo and Trey Nyoni. Hardly the cavalry: two defenders, two holding midfielders and one young winger. The changes also saw Dominik Szoboszlai shifted to right-back in a head-scratching alteration. Thankfully, Munoz's rocket spared blushes for the second straight weekend.
There is some understanding that things will take time for the former Bournemouth boss to make his mark after taking over from Arne Slot. But right now it is not looking good, with problems all over the pitch and not much time left in the transfer window to change it.
