Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha makes defenders panic and retreat – it’s time for Arne Slot to trust him from the start, writes LEWIS STEELE

It is not hard to lose count of the amount of times this season that Arne Slot has trudged into his post-match press conference and bemoaned his side playing well only to drop points.

This time, the shoe was on the other foot. Liverpool were sloppy, uninspiring and vulnerable for most of this trip to the City Ground – but they won. A great robbery in the parish of Robin Hood.

We will get on to the performance in a minute, because regardless of the final result it should be said this was worrying – but how seismic could these three points be?

Nearly two years to the day that Darwin Nunez scored a 99th-minute winner in an equally-congested penalty area in front of the Bridgford End here, it was another South American who came up with the magic moment – not once but twice.

Match-winner Alexis Mac Allister, though, was honest in his post-match reflections when he said: ‘I love scoring, I love winning, but I don’t think we played very well.’

Back then, the last-minute win here did not prove to be the start of something special. In fact, the Reds dropped points in five of their 10 games thereafter as a title challenge crumbled.

It is a contract to Arne Slot’s usual claims that his side play well but drop points – here, they played badly but won

It is now a top-four battle instead of a title tilt but the same sentiment remains: Liverpool must use this dramatic, undeserved victory as a springboard. This was their third win a row without conceding so what is stopping them from going on a run of victories now?

Rotten first halves could haunt Reds 

Here’s your first answer to the above question.

It was not until the 54th minute that Liverpool registered their first shot on target, the eighth time this season that the Reds have not tested a goalkeeper in the opening 45 minutes.

That is not good enough. A better striker than Igor Jesus, with all due respect, would have punished Liverpool here. Imagine Chris Wood in his form of last season, for example.

The 12 shots Liverpool faced before the break was the most in any first-half of a Premier League since a 6-1 thrashing at Stoke City in 2015.

This was a dreadful first-half and Slot told his team as much at half-time. ‘The first-half was really poor, the worst we have played until now I think but the second-half was much better,’ he said, which is bang on.

They did improve after the break but, still, one thought that Forest would and should have left with a point at the very least.

Sunday was the eighth time this season that Liverpool have not had a shot on target in the first 45 minutes of a game

Time for Rio to start a league game 

Rio Ngumoha came off the bench with Liverpool needing a special moment and he made one. Mac Allister’s first goal, though later disallowed, all came from the 17-year-old.

The former Chelsea lad would play more if not for his tender age. Slot is keen to not ask too much, too soon and pay the price with Ngumoha not being ready physically.

But surely it is now time for Ngumoha to get his first Premier League start?

It is hard to praise the youngster without it looking like criticism of the other wingers, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah. Neither of them, in recent months at least, have been at their best.

Gakpo has scored two league goals this side of mid-October, while Salah last netted in this competition on November 1.

No one is saying that Ngumoha is suddenly going to bang in 10 goals between now and the end of the season but he offers something different. He makes defenders panic and retreat.

‘He has incredible potential, otherwise, at 17 years of age, you don’t play as many minutes as he does in the Premier League, let alone at Liverpool… I don’t think there is any other 17-year-old who has played as many minutes in the Premier League as he has,’ said Slot.

He has a point. In terms of his overall journey, Ngumoha is well ahead of the curve. It is understandable why they are going easy on him and not asking too much. But based on several cameos so far in 2026, the evidence suggests he deserves to play more.

It’s time for Rio Ngumoha (right), who was electric when he came off the bench, to start a Premier League game

Florian Wirtz is expected to be fit for next week after picking up an injury in the warm-up

Slot expecting Wirtz back next week 

There was a void of creativity for the Premier League champions and the reason why was obvious: Florian Wirtz pulled out injured in the build-up.

The German has a problem with his back – there are obvious jokes to be made about how carrying the team for the last month must be weighing him down.

It is not thought to be serious, though, and Wirtz should return for the home fixture against West Ham on Saturday.

Slot said: ‘We don’t think it is very serious. He felt his back too much during the warm-up to start. He wasn’t able to be 100 per cent or close to 100 per cent.

‘I think after being in this league for six, seven or eight months that no matter how good you are on the ball, you need to be 100 per cent at this level. So we decided not to play him but hope and expect him to be with us next week.’

Mental resilience is a positive 

Liverpool would have lost this game two months ago. At the very least, they would have drawn it. Time and again this season, their mentality has been questioned.

Whether that is right or wrong, there is no doubt they have struggled in the later phases of games this term.

After the first Mac Allister goal was disallowed, the momentum swung back in Forest’s favour. The crowd was up, the City Ground roaring their team on.

But Liverpool stood tall. Not only that, they settled, calmed themselves after the potential frustration at seeing a goal chalked off, and went again.

There were not too many positives to take but the mental resilience is a huge plus point for Liverpool. Now they must build on it.