Isak’s Anfield Hoodoo Laid Bare as Forest Humble Liverpool
Nottingham Forest didn’t just nick it at Anfield; they absolutely marched in, switched off the lights and left Liverpool wondering where the spark’s gone. A bruising 3-0 defeat on Saturday makes it six losses in seven Premier League outings for Arne Slot’s side, and the mood on Merseyside is as flat as the performance.
Forest punish limp Liverpool
Forest were organised, clinical and bold, with goals from Murillo, Nicola Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White sinking the Reds. Liverpool now sit 11th, eight points behind leaders Arsenal – and the Gunners have a game in hand. That’s not a blip; that’s a slide.
The Isak stat that beggars belief
Liverpool smashed the British transfer record to land Alexander Isak for £125m with the expectation he’d terrify defences and turn possession into points. He showed flashes early doors – a Carabao Cup strike against Southampton – but the league goals have dried up since September.
And here’s the jaw-dropper: Isak has celebrated only one Premier League home win since arriving, that derby victory over Everton back in September. Worse still, he has started four league matches at Anfield since and lost every single one – the first Liverpool player to do so since Percy Saul in 1906, according to Michael Reid. It’s a century-old mark you really don’t want your name next to.
Numbers tell the tale
Against Forest, the Swede never got a proper foothold: 68 minutes, 14 touches, 0.19 xG, one effort and none on target, plus a 71% pass completion (5/7). Starved of service? Perhaps. But elite No 9s find ways to influence games; here, Isak was largely a passenger before making way for Federico Chiesa.
Rooney raises the alarm
Wayne Rooney has suggested Virgil van Dijk’s post-match comments should worry Liverpool, and you can see why. Leaders need to set the tone when the ship’s rocking, and right now the Reds look short on conviction as much as quality.
Fans and rivals react
Social media did what it does. Rival supporters called it a “once-in-a-century” kind of stat, others labelled it “ridiculous” and “genuinely insane,” while a few Liverpool fans pointed out the irony of paying top dollar to end up in the record books for the wrong reasons. One even argued that, of the summer arrivals, Hugo Ekitike is the only one showing signs of life.
What Slot must fix – and fast
There’s no hiding from it: the tempo is sluggish, the press is a step off, and the supply line to Isak is alarmingly thin. Slot has decisions to make – whether that’s giving Isak a partner, pushing runners closer to him, or tweaking the wide roles to feed earlier and more often. Chiesa’s cameo hinted at combinations to explore, but the manager needs solutions now, not maybes.
As for expectations, the fee shouldn’t define Isak – but in this league, it frames the debate. Liverpool need their record signing to become a focal point, the lightning rod that turns half-chances into wins. Until then, the table and that unwanted 1906 echo will keep doing the talking.
If you’re weighing up the odds on Liverpool’s recovery or the top-four race, you’ll find the latest markets via our best betting sites. But on this evidence, the Reds must fix the basics before anyone can confidently buy into a revival.
