Troubled Liverpool faced a significant setback with a 3-0 home defeat against Nottingham Forest, marking another low point in their challenging season. In contrast, Newcastle impacted Manchester City’s Premier League title pursuit with a controversial 2-1 victory, highlighted by Harvey Barnes’ two goals.
Manchester City fell behind in the 33rd minute due to a fierce strike from Murillo, resulting from their inability to manage a corner taken by Elliot Anderson. Liverpool manager Arne Slot expressed frustration over the goal being allowed, citing an obstruction of goalkeeper Alisson Becker by Forest's Dan Ndoye, paralleling a previous incident where Virgil van Dijk's equalizer was disallowed in a recent match against Manchester City.
After halftime, Forest extended their lead to 2-0, with Nicolo Savona scoring from a cut-back by Neco Williams. Liverpool's defensive struggles continued when Morgan Gibbs-White netted Forest's third goal following a rebound from a saved shot in the 78th minute. This defeat represents Liverpool's second consecutive loss to Forest at Anfield and their eighth defeat in 11 games across all competitions, including six of their last seven in the Premier League.
This result marks the first time since 1965 that Liverpool has lost consecutive league games by a three-goal margin. The team remains in 11th place, trailing leaders Arsenal by eight points, a staggering fall considering their summer spending exceeding £400 million.
Alexander Isak, who joined Liverpool in a British record transfer from Newcastle, was substituted in the second half without having scored in the Premier League. Slot commented on the disappointing performance, stating, "We started off quite well but we conceded the 1-0 and weren’t able to play the way we did in the first half hour." He acknowledged the team's struggles and took responsibility for their current form, which he characterized as a "very bad spell."
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown described the situation as critical for Slot, noting the unthinkable six losses in seven games since he took over the team. He emphasized the impact of the extensive financial investment in new players without yielding positive results.
Meanwhile, at St James’ Park, Manchester City fell to Newcastle after Barnes scored in the 63rd minute. Ruben Dias equalized for City shortly thereafter, but Barnes secured a contentious second goal after a VAR review, which upheld the goal despite a potential offside incident. City manager Pep Guardiola expressed dissatisfaction with the officiating, particularly regarding a first-half penalty appeal that was denied.
Guardiola confronted referee Sam Barrott post-match but later downplayed the incident, stating, "everything is fine." He acknowledged the changing momentum of the match and lamented City’s inability to capitalize on their opportunities, which led to their fourth league defeat of the season, placing them four points behind Arsenal in third place.
In other Premier League action, Chelsea climbed to second place with a 2-0 victory against Burnley, thanks to goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez. This win contributes to their strong run, having garnered eight victories in their last ten matches. New Wolves manager Rob Edwards faced a challenging debut, suffering a 2-0 loss to fourth-placed Crystal Palace. Additionally, Brighton overcame Brentford with a 2-1 victory, while Fulham secured a 1-0 win against Sunderland at Craven Cottage. West Ham, however, saw their two-goal lead slip away in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.
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