Liverpool boss Arne Slot singles out ‘outstanding’ Nottingham Forest star for praise in draw

Arne Slot was in awe of Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels after he produced a stunning performance to hold Liverpool to a draw last night.

A first-half strike from Chris Wood got the home side off to a great start and they led on 58 minutes before substitutes Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota combined with both their first touches to equalize from a second-half corner.

Sels, who made six saves, produced an impressive performance to dismiss Liverpool who had a total of 23 shots, nine corners and 71% possession – and he was singled out by the Dutch manager after the match.

“Their goalie is having an outstanding season and it’s so hard to score against them,” Slot said. ‘We only conceded one counter-attack in 98 minutes of total dominance, 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 excellent 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 £5million on transfer deadline day in January 2024.

And the performance was far from a one-off performance; 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 in second place with seven each.

Despite the draw, Slot was delighted with his side’s effort, which had limited Forest to just three shots in the second half as they dominated with several clear-cut chances, which included a goal-line save from Ola Aina to deny Mohamed Salah.

“I couldn’t have asked for more,” claimed Slot. “The second half was excellent. Not many teams 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 before the restart. We only let in one counter attack. It’s not the result we wanted, but the players gave everything they got. We totally controlled and dominated the game for 97 minutes. We played excellent football.”

In terms of the Premier League table, Liverpool are six points ahead of second-placed Forest, who maintained their brilliant run, and they face Brentford next Saturday at the GTech Community Stadium.