Ibrahima Konate appeared to smile to himself after being withdrawn by Arne Slot against Nottingham Forest. Liverpool were 2-0 down at Anfield when Slot make an extremely bold decision, bringing off Konate for Hugo Ekitike in search of a goal.

The Reds' dreadful form in the Premier League continued on Saturday as Sean Dyche's side came to Anfield and claimed an historic and deserved 3-0 win. Defeat made it six defeats from the last seven league games for Liverpool, whose title defence has fallen apart.

Konate has been one of the players under the microscope, with many Liverpool fans calling him out for under-par performances this season. The Frenchman has continued to partner Virgil van Dijk in central defence, but their previously solid displays are a thing of the past.

Forest took the lead when Murillo fired home from a corner, with VAR deciding to let it stand, despite Liverpool's protestations that Dan Ndoye was influencing play while in an offside position.

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They thought they had gone 2-0 up minutes later when Igor Jesus scored when Konate failed to clear, but Liverpool got a reprieve because the Forest striker was deemed to have handballed.

The reprieve didn't last long, though, with Forest right-back Nicolo Savona making it 2-0 straight after the half-time break. That prompted a reaction from Slot, who substituted defender Konate for striker Ekitike in the 55th minute.

Konate accepted his fate and was caught smiling to himself as he made his way off the pitch. Ex-England goalkeeper Paul Robinson quipped on BBC Radio 5 Live: "The way Konate has played today, I reckon Ekitike could even drop in there and do a better job."

In reality, it was holding midfielder Ryan Gravenberch tasked with performing that role. And Konate's place in the side is perhaps safe in the coming games, with Joe Gomez the only other available senior centre-back after summer signing Giovanni Leoni suffered an ACL injury against Southampton.

Robinson slammed Konate's performance saying he is "not playing well at all" while adding that there are "so many holes in that Liverpool back four".

Ekitike went onto the pitch to join £125million summer signing Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo. But the substitution did not have the desired effect, with Liverpool failing to break down Forest's stout defence before Morgan Gibbs-White added a third for the away side.

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