Goals from Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a comfortable 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Sunday that lifted the Reds to 23 points, three behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur.

Jota finished off a quick counter-attack to break the deadlock in the 31st minute and celebrated by holding up the shirt of teammate Luis Diaz, who missed the game following the kidnapping of his parents in his native Colombia.

Liverpool fans chanted the name of Diaz, who joined for an initial £37.5m in January 2022.

“It’s a worrying situation for all of us,” said Reds boss Klopp before the game. “It was a pretty tough night. I’ve never had that before. It’s a new experience I never needed.”

Liverpool’s second was a brilliant team goal as they sliced the Forest rearguard apart before Dominik Szoboszlai pulled the ball across the goal for Nunez to turn home.

Salah exploited a dreadful breakdown in communications to round off the scoring in the 77th minute.

On a roll

Aston Villa chalked up their 12th successive league win at home with a comfortable 3-1 victory over struggling Luton Town as they maintained their top-four challenge.

John McGinn’s 17th-minute strike separated the sides at half-time but Villa made their domination count after the break.

Moussa Diaby rifled in a shot four minutes into the second half and an own goal by Luton’s Tom Lockyer just past the hour mark left the visitors reeling.

To their credit, Luton continued to play with great energy and they earned a consolation thanks to another bizarre own goal credited to Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez.

Villa have now scored 20 goals in their five home league games this season and have 22 points from their 10 games, just four points behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur.

Luton are third from bottom with five points.

Villa are now only one home win from matching the record 13-game winning streak at Villa Park set by their 1983 vintage side.

Brighton & Hove Albion’s search for a return to winning ways in the league continues after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham at the Amex Stadium.

After three league games without a win, a dominant first half performance where Evan Ferguson scored his fifth goal of the season in the 26th minute set Brighton up to claim victory.

Written with inputs from Reuters