A late change to their starting XI following Florian Wirtz’s injury in the warm-up perhaps disrupted Liverpool’s momentum a little in the opening stages, and aside from a wayward Hugo Ekitke header which flew harmlessly over the bar, they struggled to create much.
The first real chance of the game fell Forest’s way, and although there was an element of fortune to it as it came from a free-kick awarded for an inadvertent clash of heads, the goal-bound thunderbolt Murillo unleashed from the resulting free-kick needed to be blocked by a Liverpool shirt.
A raft of stoppages for injuries disrupted the momentum of the game for most of the first half, but despite the hosts firing in 12 shots, Alisson was far from overworked in the visitors’ goal.
Forest went into the break feeling a little aggrieved having dominated for most of the half, and they almost got their just rewards on the stroke of HT when Elliot Anderson’s powerful drive flew just over the bar as Alisson desperately dove to keep it out.
Arne Slot’s words clearly weren’t ringing in Liverpool’s ears as they returned to action, as the second half began the same way the first ended - with Forest in the ascendancy.
A glorious opportunity presented itself too, as Callum Hudson-Odoi’s teasing delivery was planted perfectly onto the head of Nikola Milenković, but his effort was guided just wide of the target.
Chances were at a premium throughout, and to suggest Liverpool were much better in the second half would probably be amiss. Slot looked to his bench to make a double change in the final 15 minutes, but his like-for-like changes didn’t particularly have any material impact on their struggles.
In his first PL game in charge, Pereira followed his opposite number in making a raft of changes in a desperate bid to find a late winner which would’ve opened up their cushion to the drop zone to five points.
Instead, after Morgan Gibbs-White and Ibrahim Sangaré failed with late efforts, they were almost made to pay the ultimate price, as Mac Allister scored what looked to be a rather fortuitous goal as Ola Aina’s clearance hit him and flew in.
Unfortunately for Slot’s men, the ball ricocheted in off the Argentine’s arm, but football often works in mysterious ways and Mac Allister popped up again in the dying moments to net the latest of late winners on the rebound from close range, which served as a huge shot in the arm to their top-four hopes and left Forest peering anxiously over their shoulders towards the drop zone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest)