LIVERPOOL – The ghosts of Anfield’s storied past were exorcised in the cruellest fashion on Saturday as Nottingham Forest etched their name into Premier League folklore with a stunning 3-0 rout of Arne Slot’s floundering Liverpool. In a match that exposed every chink in the Reds’ armor – from defensive disarray to toothless finishing – Forest’s opportunistic strikes from Murillo (33’), Nicolò Savona (46’), and Morgan Gibbs-White (78’) not only ended a 55-year winless streak at Anfield but plunged the reigning champions into full-blown crisis. As the final whistle echoed around a shell-shocked stadium, Slot – the Dutch tactician whose measured facade has cracked under mounting pressure – unleashed a post-match broadside that has ignited transfer tinderboxes and left Kopites divided. Zeroing in on perennial headache Ibrahima Konaté’s catalogue of errors, the 47-year-old snapped: “If they want him, they can come and get him.” The “they”? Real Madrid, the La Liga behemoths whose lingering interest in the French defender has suddenly transformed from whisper to wildfire.
The 3:00 PM GMT kickoff unfolded like a horror show scripted for Liverpool’s detractors. Slot, grasping at straws after a 3-0 midweek mauling by Manchester City that extended their winless run to four league games, opted for continuity in his beleaguered 4-2-3-1. Alisson Becker manned the posts behind a backline of Andrew Robertson, Joe Gomez, Konaté, and makeshift right-back Tyler Morton – the 19-year-old academy hopeful pressed into service amid Conor Bradley’s ACL nightmare and Jeremie Frimpong’s groin absence. 10 Midfield pivots Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister screened a forward line of Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz (nursing a hamstring tweak), Cody Gakpo, and Hugo Ekitike, with Virgil van Dijk benched for rotation. Forest, 19th and desperate under Nuno Espírito Santo, arrived in a compact 5-3-2, their nine points from 11 games a testament to gritty survival rather than flair.
Liverpool dominated the narrative early, hogging 73% possession and unleashing 14 shots – seven on target – yet conjuring the attacking zip of a Sunday league side. Salah, muzzled by Murillo’s vice-like marking, curled a 12th-minute effort wide, while Gakpo’s header grazed the bar at the half-hour. But complacency, that old Anfield foe, struck fatally. From a corner in the 33rd minute, Neco Williams’ delivery evaded the Reds’ zonal marking; Murillo, the £10 million Brazilian bargain, ghosted unmarked to volley home past a flailing Alisson – a goal that stood despite VAR scrutiny over a potential deflection off Robertson’s boot, unlike Van Dijk’s disallowed strike against City days prior. 11 Half-time couldn’t come soon enough, but the restart was carnage: 46 seconds in, Savona – the Atalanta loanee on a rare start – pounced on Sangaré’s turnover to drill low through a static defense, Alisson rooted at his near post. 0
The second half devolved into farce. Wirtz’s 61st-minute free-kick clattered the post, Chiesa (subbed on) headed over in the 55th, and Salah’s 66th-minute snapshot drew a world-class stop from Matz Sels. Yet, for all their 75% possession monopoly, Liverpool’s xG read a paltry 1.2 against Forest’s 2.1. 5 The denouement arrived in the 78th: Gibbs-White, Forest’s £25 million engine with 68 touches, intercepted Gomez’s errant pass and marauded 40 yards to curl beyond Alisson – cue boos cascading from the Kop as the scoreboard mocked the mighty fallen. Final stats: Liverpool 14 shots (3 on target), Forest 11 (5 on target); possession 73-27. Nuno’s men climbed to 16th on 12 points, their first Anfield triumph since 1969 a relegation lifeline. 2 For Slot’s Reds, now 11th with 18 points and a -2 goal difference – eight adrift of Arsenal – it was their joint-heaviest home PL loss, equaling ghosts from 1996 (vs. United) and 2005 (vs. Derby). 2
In the bowels of Anfield, Slot’s presser was a powder keg. Flanked by a grim-faced Salah – goalless in eight straight – the former Feyenoord boss eviscerated his backline: “Another avoidable mistake at the back – how many times now? We’re hemorrhaging goals from nothing, and it’s the same headaches we could easily avoid.” His ire zeroed on Konaté, subbed at the hour for Jarell Quansah after a tournament of positional lapses: ball-watching on Murillo’s opener, a mistimed lunge for Savona’s, and failing to track Gibbs-White’s surge. “Ibrahima’s world-class on his best days – a title winner, Champions League finalist against Madrid – but today? Unforgivable. And if Real Madrid are still interested, as they’ve been all summer, then fine. If they want him, they can come and get him right now. We’re not carrying dead weight in a title race.” 20 The room froze; Gary Neville’s jaw dropped on Sky, while Jamie Carragher shifted uneasily: “Arne’s gloves are off. Brutal, but with Madrid scouts in the stands? It’s loaded.” 20
Konaté’s woes are no secret. The 26-year-old, a £36 million coup from Leipzig in 2021, has been a colossus when fit – 70% aerial duel success this term, fourth in the league – but injuries have ravaged him: just 22 starts in 2025-26, his contract ticking to June 2026. 19 Madrid’s pursuit, flagged by Fabrizio Romano in August, positions him as Militao’s ideal foil amid Alaba’s fragility. 20 Echoing Trent Alexander-Arnold’s acrimonious Bernabéu exit last summer (a €10m compensation sting), Konaté’s camp has stalled on Liverpool’s “final” £200k/week extension. 26 Slot’s salvo – laced with sarcasm – reeks of tough love, but risks fracturing a squad already scarred by Bradley’s March return (ACL), Wirtz’s three-week layoff, and Robertson’s calf niggle. 18
X detonated: #SlotSnaps and #KonateToMadrid surged to UK trends, with 2.3 million mentions by dusk. @AnfieldPulse tweeted: “Slot’s right – Ibra’s errors are kryptonite. But flogging him to Madrid after Trent? Masochism.” 20 Spirit of Shankly urged: “Back the gaffer, but unity first. Fix the leaks, don’t flood the gates.” Pundits amplified: Alan Shearer on MOTD called it “a tipping point,” warning Slot of alienating Van Dijk, whose own Madrid links simmer. 20 Gary Lineker quipped: “Arne’s passion is fire – that Madrid dig? Napalm. Defense is a card house, Konaté the joker.”
Slot’s tempest caps a perfect storm. Liverpool’s £450m summer splurge – Wirtz (£100m), Alexander Isak (£80m), Frimpong (£35m) – promised dynasty; instead, six losses in 12 yield 18 goals conceded, sixth-worst. 19 Slot’s diamond falters without width, Salah’s 14 goals a lone beacon. Injuries – five natural defenders for seven games in 22 days – compound the chaos. 16 “Depth’s our curse today,” Slot conceded, eyeing January: Ajax’s Jorrel Hato (£33m) as Konaté heir, per insiders. 20 Madrid could recoup £50m, funding reinvention – but at what cost to morale?
Konaté, ever stoic, posted an enigmatic Insta: Anfield’s “This Means More” in monochrome, captioned “Fight.” Teammates circled wagons: Van Dijk consoled in the tunnel, Gravenberch defended publicly: “We sink or swim as 11. Ibra’s heart’s massive.” Nuno, basking in glory, lauded: “Anfield’s a pitch. We smelled vulnerability.” Gibbs-White teased: “They’re exposed. Blood in the water.”
As Barcelona – unbeaten in UCL, Yamal and Lewandowski primed – loom Wednesday, Slot’s ploy teeters: Catalyst for revival, or schism? Anfield, resilient cauldron, demands resurrection. In Slot’s Reds, error’s the enemy – Madrid’s specter, the spark.
