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Liverpool's players applaud as Diogo Jota celebrates his goal by holding up a shirt with the name of team-mate Luis Diaz on itLiverpool's players showed their support to absent team-mate Luis Diaz during a comfortable win over Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
Diogo Jota, surrounded by his team-mates, held up the Colombia winger's shirt after firing the Reds into a 31st-minute lead when Matt Turner turned Darwin Nunez's attempt into the Portuguese forward's path.
Liverpool were dominant and Uruguay striker Nunez doubled the advantage four minutes later with his sixth club goal of the campaign after a cutback by Dominik Szoboszlai.
Forest's miserable day was complete when Turner and substitute Harry Toffolo got in a tangle, allowing Mohamed Salah to become only the third player in the club's history to score in each of the opening five home league matches of a season.
Jurgen Klopp's side are three points behind leaders Tottenham, while Forest, who failed to seriously test Liverpool keeper Alisson, are 16th, five points above the relegation zone after a fourth defeat in six away games this season.
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Liverpool fans chant Diaz's name
Liverpool fans chanted the name of Diaz, who joined for an initial £37.5m in January 2022, as their team maintained their 100% home winning run in the league.
The 26-year-old had been due to play before news emerged on the eve of the match about his parents.
"It's a worrying situation for all of us," said Reds boss Klopp before the game. "It was a pretty tough night. I've never had that before. It's a new experience I never needed."
The late change did not disrupt the Reds on the pitch, however, with Klopp's team having now gone a year without losing at home in the league.
Liverpool finished a distant 22 points behind champions Manchester City last season, but with more than a quarter of this season gone, they are proving much more of a threat at the top of the table.
But for Forest keeper Turner, they would have won by a more handsome margin as the American made fine saves to deny summer signings Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai.
But Turner was then involved in the error that led to Salah making it 3-0 in the 77th minute.
He was well outside his area when Szoboszlai launched the ball forward from his own half, with the in-form Salah taking advantage of the mix-up between the keeper and Toffolo to score his 10th Liverpool goal in all competitions this season.
The Egypt forward joined Harry Chambers (1922) and John Aldridge (1987) in achieving the feat of scoring in each of the opening five home league matches of a season.
More to follow.
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Liverpool
Squad number1Player nameAlisson
Squad number66Player nameAlexander-Arnold- Squad number5Player nameKonaté
Squad number4Player namevan Dijk- Squad number21Player nameTsimikas
- Squad number8Player nameSzoboszlai
- Squad number10Player nameMac Allister
- Squad number38Player nameGravenberch
Squad number11Player nameMohamed Salah- Squad number9Player nameNúñez
- Squad number20Player nameDiogo Jota
Squad number2Player nameGomez- Squad number3Player nameEndo
- Squad number18Player nameGakpo
- Squad number19Player nameElliott
Nottingham Forest
Squad number1Player nameTurner
Squad number24Player nameAurier
Squad number30Player nameBoly
Squad number19Player nameNiakhaté
Squad number40Player nameMurillo
Squad number43Player nameAina
Squad number10Player nameGibbs-White
Squad number5Player nameMangala
Squad number6Player nameSangaré
Squad number16Player nameDomínguez
Squad number21Player nameElanga
Squad number7Player nameN Williams
Squad number9Player nameAwoniyi
Squad number12Player nameAndrey Santos
Squad number15Player nameToffolo
Squad number22Player nameYates
Line-ups
Liverpool
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Alisson
- 66Alexander-ArnoldBooked at 19minsSubstituted forGomezat 89'minutes
- 5Konaté
- 4van Dijk
- 21Tsimikas
- 8Szoboszlai
- 10Mac AllisterBooked at 58mins
- 38GravenberchSubstituted forElliottat 59'minutes
- 11Salah
- 9NúñezSubstituted forEndoat 80'minutes
- 20JotaSubstituted forGakpoat 58'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Gomez
- 3Endo
- 13Adrián
- 18Gakpo
- 19Elliott
- 32Matip
- 44Chambers
- 53McConnell
- 62Kelleher
Nottm Forest
Formation 5-4-1
- 1Turner
- 24Aurier
- 30BolySubstituted forAwoniyiat 69'minutes
- 19Niakhaté
- 40Santiago Costa dos Santos
- 43AinaSubstituted forToffoloat 69'minutes
- 10Gibbs-WhiteSubstituted forN Williamsat 83'minutes
- 5MangalaBooked at 33minsSubstituted forNascimento dos Santosat 83'minutes
- 6SangaréBooked at 90mins
- 16DomínguezBooked at 52minsSubstituted forYatesat 69'minutes
- 21Elanga
Substitutes
- 3Tavares
- 4Worrall
- 7N Williams
- 8Kouyaté
- 9Awoniyi
- 12Nascimento dos Santos
- 15Toffolo
- 22Yates
- 23Vlachodimos
Referee:Chris Kavanagh
Attendance:50,143
Live Text
Match ends, Liverpool 3, Nottingham Forest 0.
Second Half ends, Liverpool 3, Nottingham Forest 0.
Attempt saved. Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ibrahim Sangaré.
VAR Decision: No Goal Liverpool 3-0 Nottingham Forest.
GOAL OVERTURNED BY VAR: Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) scores but the goal is ruled out after a VAR review.
Offside, Liverpool. Harvey Elliott tries a through ball, but Cody Gakpo is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Harvey Elliott (Liverpool) left footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Ibrahim Sangaré (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ibrahim Sangaré (Nottingham Forest).
Attempt blocked. Ibrahim Sangaré (Nottingham Forest) header from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Ibrahim Sangaré (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Alisson Becker.
Substitution, Liverpool. Joe Gomez replaces Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Attempt missed. Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Neco Williams with a cross.
Attempt missed. Andrey Santos (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right following a corner.
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Kostas Tsimikas.
Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ryan Yates (Nottingham Forest).
Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest) hits the bar with a left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box. Assisted by Ryan Yates with a cross.
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