Jamie Carragher took aim at one Liverpool player for his performance vs Nottingham Forest this afternoon, before Arne Slot‘s side secured a dramatic late victory.
Reds secure important victory at Forest
They had to do it the hard way, but the Reds just about managed to get over the line at the City Ground this afternoon, with Alexis Mac Allister bagging a dramatic late winner, just minutes after the Argentinian midfielder had a goal ruled out by VAR.
The result keeps Slot’s side firmly in contention for the Champions League places, moving level on points with Chelsea and Manchester United, although Michael Carrick’s side have a game in hand, and travel to the Hill Dickinson Stadium to take on Everton tonight.
Ultimately, the three points are all that matters, but the performance wasn’t exactly encouraging, with the Merseysiders looking particularly poor in the first half, recording an xG of just 0.06, while also having just 41% of possession.
It would be fair to say Carragher wasn’t exactly impressed by the performance in the opening 45 minutes, with the Sky Sports pundit saying: “There has been some horror performances from this Liverpool side all season but that first half is the worst one of the lot.
“Curtis Jones is always taking too many touches, he needs to be sharper. That’s been an issue for his entire Liverpool career. He’s always wanting too much time on the ball.”
Jones was given the nod in the starting XI after Florian Wirtz pulled out due to an injury in the warm-up, but the 25-year-old certainly didn’t make the most of his opportunity, and will be thankful Mac Allister bailed him out…
Jones struggles in victory against Tricky Trees
The Reds managed to get over the line in the end, but the English midfielder was very poor, receiving a SofaScore match rating of just 5.9, the lowest of any player from either side, after giving away possession on 12 occasions.
The academy graduate also won just three of the 12 duels he contested throughout the match, and squandered one big chance, in what was a very disappointing all-round performance, so Slot will be hoping Wirtz’s injury isn’t serious.
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On a more positive note, Carragher was pleased by the impact Rio Ngumoha made after being brought on with just under 15 minutes to play, with the 48-year-old making it clear he believes the youngster is ready to be a regular starter.
Ngumoha was brought on to replace Mohamed Salah late in the game, and it will be interesting to see if the Egyptian retains his place in the starting XI, after not scoring in nine Premier League games.