Chris Wood's goal puts Forest in second place, but Diogo Jota's first touch equalises.

With his first touch after coming off the bench, Diogo Jota gave Liverpool a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest, moving the home team into second place.

Chris Wood's early goal was cancelled out by the Liverpool forward's header from Kostas Tsimikas' corner, only 22 seconds after both players entered the game. This kept Liverpool's unbeaten away record in the Premier League and their six-point advantage at the top of the league intact.

Although Nuno Espirito Santo's Forest lost their sixth straight Premier League victory, the hard-earned point still puts them ahead of Arsenal and into second place. Although they were unable to defeat Liverpool exactly, it served as a reminder of their improved play.

Ola Aina cleared off the line to prevent Mohamed Salah late in the game, while Matz Sels made several crucial saves to help Forest hold on for the draw. However, the East Midlands team's efforts were worthy of some recognition. There are benefits for both teams from this.

Forest's determination is evident.

Early on, Forest demonstrated his now-famous ability to limit the opposition to poor quality opportunities. Although Liverpool had nine efforts in the first half, none of them were on goal or as obvious as Wood's brilliantly taken early-game opportunity.

After scoring the first goal, do you want to dive in? Nuno's Forest has made this their signature, and they have long troubled Liverpool by putting bodies in front of the ball, preventing space behind, and providing a serious danger on the counterattack.

Slot had previously stated, "It is very hard to create a chance against them," The impact was immediate as the Liverpool manager had to search his bench for someone deserving of the moniker. The game changed when Tsimikas crossed for Jota to head in close.

Jota had never touched anyone before. He had both of Liverpool's shots on goal within seconds of his introduction, and Matz Sels had just saved one of his attempts. Sels spread himself to deny him what could have been his third chance.

Sels, who was not needed in the first half, was Forest's star of the second half. He made fingertip saves to keep out Cody Gakpo and Salah, and he needed Aina's assistance to clear off the line to stop Salah from shooting the game-winning goal. Forest, however, made their point.

Nuno's passion and heart
"First half, we were really organised, Liverpool had the ball but were not able to break us," Nuno stated.

"We were certain that Liverpool would respond in the second half, particularly when their top players had opportunities. We were able to stay in the game thanks to Matz Selz.

"The final moments were about heart and desire." He continued: "We finished on the ropes but the team worked very well."

According to Nuno, "The bond that the team and the fans are building for this journey that we are sharing is very powerful."

Slot's audacious move pays off.

Throughout the game, Slot was singled out by the Forest fans, who even took issue with his footwear choice. They began the chorus, "Arne Slot, it's happening again," in reference to Forest's victory at Anfield, after Liverpool had fallen behind one goal in the second half.

Although he did not have the final laugh, the Dutchman forced a smile in their direction, and his squad managed to force the equaliser that keeps Liverpool's Premier League away record undefeated. After a daring alteration, it resulted from his own intervention.

It was clear enough to bring in Tsimikas to replace the struggling Andy Robertson, but it took some creativity to substitute Ibrahima Konate for Jota. Luis Diaz briefly played a deeper role in midfield as Ryan Gravenberch slid into defence.

Slot has been commended for his game-changing choices since the first weekend, but rarely will a switch result in a quicker equaliser than this one, with both substitutes working together. He desired victory. However, this can still turn out to be a valuable point for Liverpool.

Slot: There is nothing more I could have asked for.
Slot responded, "No, I don't think so," when asked if he had ever made a more successful replacement. I don't recall. Even though I don't take joy in the substitution, you have a specific strategy for doing this.

"We needed goals in this circumstance, so we substituted an attacker for a defender in order to play even more aggressive football than we already did. Furthermore, when I took the two onto the pitch, I wasn't planning on scoring from a set-piece."

He went on to say of the performance: "Today, I couldn't have hoped for more. I believe that the majority of people discuss the second half, and they were overwhelmingly favourable about it. Personally, I think the second half was better than the first [also].

"However, we faced a team that was playing so well that they barely ever give up a chance, and I've seen a lot of them come back with a tonne of counterattack threats.

"They have counterattack after counterattack after counterattack in practically every game. We had complete dominance today, giving up just one counterattack in 98 minutes of play.

"It's not what we wanted, we wanted to have three points, but in the end, what I want, what the fans should want, and what the players should want, is that they give it all they've got during every single game they play, and that's what they did today, combined with outstanding football."

"I couldn't have asked for more today."