At risk of going six games without a win for the first time since Jurgen Klopp took charge, Liverpool instead produced their best counter-pressing and possession performance of the season at Elland Road, according to their jubilant German manager.
Liverpool took a while to get going at Elland Road, but Cody Gakpo’s 35th-minute opener sparked a goalmouth frenzy, as Mohamed Salah and Diogoqq Jota ended the night with braces alongside a Darwin Nunez effort, although Leeds made things interesting early in the second half through Luis Sinisterra.
The signs of a revival were there in the pulsating four-goal thriller with Arsenal, who were arguably fortunate to come away from Anfield with a point, but Liverpool’s drubbing of Leeds was not enough to propel them back into the European places, and they remain eighth in the rankings at the time of writing.
Nine points separate Liverpool from Newcastle United in the fourth and final Champions League spot, so Klopp’s side are mathematically still capable of forcing their way back into Europe’s
premier competition, and a kind end to the season sees the Reds face just one other Big Six side in a faltering Tottenham Hotspur before the curtain closes on a tumultuous year.
Now unbeaten in seven successive home fixtures in the Premier League – scoring at least twice in each of their last four at Anfield – Liverpool have just one defeat on their record from their last 37 Premier League home matches, but Forest have already proven capable of going toe-to-toe with Klopp’s crop.
Now without a win in 10 top-flight matches while losing each of their last three, the Tricky Trees travel to Anfield languishing in 18th place – albeit only behind Everton on goal difference – but Cooper had every right to feel aggrieved on Sunday after a seemingly clear handball from Harry Maguire in the box was not flagged.
Links >> Stream 1 HD Stream 2 HD Stream 3 HD Stream 4 HD
A consolation goal from the spot would have done little to cancel out Forest’s abysmal record at the other end, though, as Cooper’s ravaged squad have now gone 10 Premier League games without a clean sheet, and each of the visitors’ last five matches on the road has ended in defeat.
It has been a different story for Forest at the City Ground, where former Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi returned to haunt his former club in a surprise 1-0 win for the Tricky
Trees in October, but the Reds have won each of their last four Anfield clashes with their visitors, the most recent of which saw Michael Owen score four in a 5-1 demolition job in 1998.
