After three wins from three and no goals conceded heading into the international break, Liverpool returned with a stinker as they fell to Forest at Anfield.
It was a frustrating result on an afternoon where very little went right for the Reds, despite dominating in possession, shots and expected goals per FotMob.
Slot was left disappointed, and though there are question marks over his selection – or lack of rotation – a very basic failure appeared to lead to Liverpool’s 1-0 loss.
Slot’s key principle failed
From his first game in charge, Slot has made it clear the importance of winning duels – as evidenced by his half-time withdrawal of Jarell Quansah against Ipswich.
But Saturday saw Liverpool consistently fail to win their duels, which resulted in their first loss of the campaign.
Five of Slot’s starters lost more duels than they won, with Trent Alexander-Arnold (28.6%), Mo Salah (25%), Luis Diaz (28.6%), Diogo Jota (50%) and Andy Robertson (0%) the worst culprits.
In terms of volume, Alexander-Arnold lost the most duels – 10 of his 14 were unsuccessful, losing eight ground duels and two in the air.
Unlike the Quansah-for-Konate swap against Ipswich, there was no improvement when it came to Slot’s substitutes, either.
Kostas Tsimikas, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo all won only one of their three duels, while Conor Bradley and Curtis Jones were unsuccessful in their one each.
Nunez’s lost duel in the lead-up to Hudson-Odoi’s winner was the killer blow – a stark contrast to Salah’s involvement in Luis Diaz‘s opener in the 2-0 win over Brentford.
Dutch duo still stand out
Speaking of duels, the one area that Liverpool still dominated in – in the air – was hallmarked by a captain’s display from Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk failed to win any of his three ground duels but was successful in eight of his 11 aerial duels (73 percent) – more than in any of the previous three games this season.
No other player made more defensive actions than Van Dijk (16), who also led the way in terms of interceptions (six), clearances (eight) and headed clearances (five).
The No. 4 made 131 touches, which was at least 34 times more than any other player and more than Forest’s two most-involved players – James Ward-Prowse (53) and Ola Aina (46) – put together.
Another who stood out for positive reasons was Ryan Gravenberch, who continues to impress at the base of midfield – including a game-high nine recoveries.
Alexander-Arnold (17) is the only player to have made more passes into the final third than his 12, with Gravenberch also third-highest in terms of touches (89) and behind only Van Dijk (95) when it comes to passes completed (63).
Despite Liverpool’s defeat, Gravenberch received the third-highest FotMob rating of any player on Saturday (7.8), behind only Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels (8.3) and left-back Alex Moreno (7.9).
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