ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL // Football took something of a back seat today, with the game hugely overshadowed by the harrowing news out of Colombia that Luis Díaz's parents had been kidnapped. Naturally, he was left out of the squad against Nottingham Forest.
Jürgen Klopp would be the first to say that his team sheet was unimportant in the grand scheme of things. But, as it goes, he was still able to name a strong Liverpool attack, with Diogo Jota coming in alongside Mohamed Salah and Darwin Núñez.
That it was he who opened the scoring underlined the strength in depth at Klopp's disposal. Jota held up a Díaz shirt as he celebrated, a touch of class appreciated by all four sides of Anfield.
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Núñez would add a second before half-time, as Liverpool never really looked in any discomfort even before Salah seized on a bizarre Matt Turner error to seal victory. Here are the four things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.
Liverpool has last laugh after Salah 'nutmeg'
It didn’t take long for Salah’s weekly look of justified incredulity to come out. This time, Nottingham Forest defender Murillo was the cause, having somehow avoided penalization for hauling the Egyptian to the ground from under his elbows.
But while Murillo made liberal use of the special rulebook that allows the Liverpool talisman to be manhandled with impunity, it has to be said that it was a largely good performance. One eye-catching moment came a few moments later, when he nutmegged Salah before playing a pass in behind for Anthony Elanga.
In a game where Nottingham Forest did not get too much of a chance to showcase anything in possession, he showed a tidiness that may have caught Liverpool’s eye — although one risk too many let Klopp's side in for the opener, and Jota will feel he ultimately punished Murillo for his fearlessness and cheek. But as we wrote earlier, his profile is an interesting one from a transfer perspective.
Anfield thoughts with Díaz
Taking its lead from Jota and his celebration, Anfield also showed that its thoughts were with Díaz. His name was chanted throughout the stadium.
It was a lovely touch, and typical of Liverpool supporters. In times of crisis, it is most clear that You'll Never Walk Alone really means something.
That anthem was also sung after a minute of applause in the 37th minute for Paul McHugh. A Liverpool fan, he tragically died suddenly last weekend just hours after attending the derby.
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![Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.](https://i2-prod.liverpoolecho.co.uk/incoming/article28219150.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_GettyImages-1748470251.jpg)
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New rule forgotten already
Remember the start of the season, when a clampdown on time-wasting was the order of the day? As tends to be the case with these initiatives, it lasted all of a few weeks, before more or less petering out.
It's little wonder consistency is nowhere to be found, while some keep trying to apply the new directives and others revert to the norm. Chris Kavanagh seemingly falls into the latter camp, having elected to ignore repeated incidents of timewasting from goalkeeper Turner.
The former Arsenal stopper could have been off for two yellow cards within the first 20 minutes, which tells you all you need to know about the Nottingham Forest game plan. But despite the Kop's best efforts to bring this to the attention of the referee, the minutes were allowed to slip away. Shockingly, the time-wasting seemed to dry up once Liverpool went in front.
Klopp's fluid options
Good luck trying to work out how to display the Liverpool team sheet these days. It wasn't too bad from kick-off, but the changes throughout the course of the game were almost impossible to track.
The first double change saw Harvey Elliott and Cody Gakpo come on. Were either of them in midfield? Were both of them? It's a flexible Liverpool system, and they each seemed to surface in pockets of space all over the pitch.
Núñez would then be withdrawn for defensive midfielder Wataru Endō. That saw Elliott definitively take up a role in attack, in the Salah role, as Salah himself went through the middle.
It's a far cry from the days of the fixed, predictable front three. But while that trio worked wonders for Klopp, he will be pleased with the fluidity of the options at his disposal now.