Nottingham took a 1-0 lead through Chris Wood. In the second half, Arne Slot brought on Diogo Jota; the striker equalised with his first touch. With the 1-1 draw, Liverpool remained top of the Premier League.
"In the first half, we played very organised football, Liverpool had the ball but could not break us down. In the second half, we knew Liverpool would respond strongly, especially when the game had a lot of space for their talented players.
Matz Selz was a key player for us, keeping us in the game. We finished the game in a difficult position but the team did a great job,” said Nottingham coach Nuno Santo.
In this match, Nottingham goalkeeper Matz Selz made spectacular saves in the second half, helping the home team get 1 point.
With Liverpool, coach Arne Slot was delighted that his personnel and tactical adjustments had paid off. He withdrew defender Konate and replaced him with Jota, and sent Tsimikas in for Robertson. Almost immediately, the adjustment paid off when Tsimikas passed the ball for Jota to score.
"In this situation, we put a striker on for a defender just to make the team more offensive than we did before, because we needed a goal. Liverpool scoring from a set piece was not what I had in mind when I brought them on," he said.
On Liverpool's performance, the Dutch tactician added: "I couldn't have expected more today. I think most people talk about the second half, the players played better in this period. For me, Liverpool also played better in the second half than the first half.
We were up against a team in good form, hardly conceding a goal in their games. I've watched a lot of Nottingham games, they have a lot of dangerous counter-attacks.
In almost every game, they counter-attack constantly. Today, we only conceded one goal from a counter-attack. We completely dominated the 98 minutes on the pitch.
“That’s not what we wanted, we wanted the three points. But at the end of the day, what I want, what the fans should want, what the players should want, is for them to give their all in every game they play, which is what they did today, combined with excellent play. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”
