The moment Gerrard lost his patience

It took Nottingham Forest just 24 minutes to silence Anfield, and the manner of the goal was enough to make any Liverpool supporter wince. A long punt forward from Matz Sels found Igor Jesus, who brought the ball under control with a first touch that was frankly embarrassing to concede to. Mac Allister did get a hand, or rather a boot, on it, but the dispossession was only half a job done. Morgan Gibbs-White was already lurking, and with Gakpo and Frimpong both caught horrendously out of position, Dan Ndoye had a runway of space on the right flank. He took full advantage with a composed finish inside the box.

Steven Gerrard, on punditry duty, was not in a forgiving mood as Liverpool trudged down the tunnel a goal down. He laid out the chain of errors with surgical precision: "There's the punt, you've got to win the first ball, this ball here, it's very important that Mac Allister wins it. If not, Cody Gakpo has got to be back in position. They've switched positions on the right-hand side. So Frimpong's gone for the first press, Gakpo has to become the right-back, he has to recover quicker, get back into defence, get back into position and make sure Ndoye doesn't get that shot on goal. Unfortunately, he doesn't. He's ball-watching and they get punished for it." Hard to argue with a single word of that.

The cruelty of it all was compounded moments later when Florian Wirtz slotted home what looked like a deserved leveller, only for the flag to go up against Frimpong for offside in the build-up. A goal that never was, and a deficit that felt deeply undeserved given what Liverpool had done in the rest of the half, but one that was entirely of their own making.

A second half that had absolutely everything

Liverpool came out for the second period with something to prove, and they found their equaliser on the hour mark. Gakpo, having endured a torrid first half, at least made partial amends by picking out Alexander Isak at the far post, where the Swedish striker had the simplest of finishes to make it 1-1. For a brief moment, it felt like Liverpool were back in control of their own afternoon.

Then Forest stung them again. Neco Williams was driving into the area when Alisson came out to deal with the danger and caught his leg after the ball had gone. Referee Sam Barrott pointed to the spot without hesitation. Virgil van Dijk tried to unsettle James McAtee as the midfielder stood over it, but McAtee rolled it sideways and Gibbs-White stepped up to drill it straight down the middle. At 2-1 to Forest, the afternoon was threatening to turn genuinely ugly.

Both Gakpo and Frimpong were hauled off, Ryan Gravenberch and Kostas Tsimikas coming on in their place, a clear signal that the afternoon had not gone to plan for either man. But football, and Anfield, had one more act to deliver. With around ten minutes remaining, summer signing Victor Munoz crashed a fierce effort past Sels, the ball thundering off the crossbar and over the line to make it 2-2. A point rescued. Two points dropped. Depending entirely on your mood.

What this result means going forward

A 2-2 draw at home to Forest is not a disaster, but it is a reminder that positional discipline and defensive concentration cannot be luxuries reserved for when Liverpool feel like it. The right flank looked dangerously exposed for large stretches, and Gerrard's dissection of the opener will have landed in the dressing room because every single word was accurate. Frimpong switching out of position, Gakpo not tracking back quickly enough, Mac Allister not winning the first ball, it was a collective lapse, and Forest had the quality to punish it.

The positive, if you are searching for one, is the character shown to come back twice. Munoz, on his first season at the club, will be feeling pretty good about himself after that finish. But there is work to do on the training pitch before Friday.

Liverpool travel to Portman Road to face Ipswich Town on 4 September, and they will need a far tighter defensive structure if they want to leave Suffolk with all three points.