Arne Slot was in awe of Nottingham Forest’s goalkeeper Matz Sels after he produced a stunning performance to hold Liverpool to a draw last night.
A first-half strike from Chris Wood gave the home side a fantastic start and they led for 58 minutes before substitutes Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota combined with both of their first touches to equalise from a corner in the second half.
Sels, who made six saves, produced a show-stopping performance to deny Liverpool who had a total of 23 shots, nine corner kicks as well as 71% possession – and he was singled out by the Dutch manager after the game.
“Their goalkeeper is having an outstanding season and it is so hard to score against them,’ said Slot. ‘We conceded only one counter-attack in 98 minutes of total domination but unfortunately they scored from it.
“In the second half we created a lot of chances but we have to give credit to Nottingham. They defend well and throw themselves in front of every cross.
“We wanted three points but the players gave it everything they have. We played outstanding football in the second half and created chance after chance.”
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The Forest shot-stopper joined the club from French Ligue 1 side Strasbourg for a fee of around £5m on transfer deadline day in January 2024.
And the performance was far from a one-off showing; he leads this season’s Golden Glove standings after Forest’s brilliant run that has included nine clean sheets in 21 games. He leads Everton’s Jordan Pickford and Arsenal’s David Raya who sit second with seven each.
Despite the draw, Slot was overjoyed with his side’s efforts having limited Forest to just three shots in the second half while they dominated with multiple clear-cut chances that included a goalline-saving clearance from Ola Aina to deny Mohamed Salah.
“I could not have asked for more,” claimed Slot. “The second half was outstanding. There are not many teams that can create so many chances against an opponent so defensively strong.
“At times, it was one chance after another, although sometimes it took a long time for the restart. We conceded only one counter-attack. It is not the result we wanted but the players gave it all they have got. We totally controlled and dominated the game for 97 minutes. We played some outstanding football.”
In terms of the Premier League table, Liverpool sit six points clear of second-place Forest, who maintained their brilliant run, and they face Brentford next on Saturday at the GTech Community Stadium.
