Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season at home to Nottingham Forest and Bruno Fernandes was quick to react.
The weekend’s surprise result saw Liverpool, previously unbeaten under new manager Arne Slot, suffer their first defeat after Callum Hudson-Odoi scored a stunning goal at Anfield. Slot kept the same Liverpool lineup that had secured victories over Ipswich, Brentford, and Manchester United, but they struggled against Nuno Espirito Santo’s well-organized defense.
In contrast, Erik ten Hag helped Manchester United rebound with a 3-0 win over Southampton, suggesting his players were attentive to the Merseyside match. Anthony Elanga, a former teammate of Fernandes, was instrumental in the goal by breaking down Liverpool’s left side and setting up Hudson-Odoi.
Fernandes promptly expressed his appreciation on social media for Elanga’s contribution with a post that included a clap emoji.
Post-match, Slot admitted that his team struggled with ball control and failed to create scoring chances despite holding over 70% possession. He remarked that the only aspect his team could control was possession, as they had to contend with numerous long balls from their opponents.
“We had a lot of possession but only created three or four decent chances, which is far from sufficient given our control of the game. With so much play in their half, we should have performed better. We lost the ball repeatedly in simple situations. I believe the key takeaway is that our possession wasn’t effective enough.”