Arne Slot was not happy as he watched on from the sidelines at the City Ground. The Liverpool manager’s lack of emotion has been one of the biggest differences from his predecessor, but as he watched from the dugout the frustration was evident.

He was vexed by Nottingham Forest’s time-wasting, annoyed by the referee’s lenient approach to several robust tackles, but, most importantly, he was disappointed by his side’s performance.

“In your head, Arne, Arne, Arne,” the home fans chanted as Slot became more and more agitated. His response was to turn to the bench and introduce Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota. The former Feyenoord boss has a deft touch when making in-game changes but not even he could have foreseen that less than 30 seconds later they would combine to grab an equaliser.

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It was the moment Liverpool needed to spark back into life after a disjointed opening hour in the East Midlands. Forest’s low block was proving tough to break down and there were a surprising number of disjointed passes as Liverpool demonstrated the unusual habit of being too relaxed in possession and then choosing the wrong moments to play with urgency.

Andy Robertson was the main culprit, but Virgil van Dijk also dawdled on the ball, Alexis Mac Allister tried to force his passes and Trent Alexander-Arnold couldn’t pick out team-mates in dangerous areas. Jota’s goal in the 66th minute was Liverpool’s first shot on target.

It’s remarkable then, that the away supporters may have felt aggrieved to be heading back up the M6 with just a point. That Liverpool ended the game with an expected goals of 2.28 tells its own story of how dominant the last 30 minutes was at the City Ground.

After a quiet first hour, Matz Sels was probably man of the match in the end, denying Jota (twice), Cody Gakpo, Dominik Szoboszlai and then Salah. The latter even saw an effort cleared off the line by Ola Aina on the rare occasion a shot bypassed the Forest goalkeeper.

On another day, Liverpool could have emerged with a comfortable victory and would have earned plaudits for a spirited comeback. Regardless of the result, that praise remains relevant and to battle back against a Forest side that excels at home, concedes few and had won five in a row is a testament to the Reds’ ability to overcome adversity.

At the start of the season, a point in Nottingham would have been seen as a slip-up. Now, fans could argue it’s a result fitting of a would-be champion.

But the gap to Arsenal could be down to four points by Wednesday night and, while no reason to panic yet, that Liverpool has failed to beat any of its last three Premier League opponents shouldn’t be overlooked, nor that the leaders have won just three of the last seven league outings.

With Liverpool playing three of the bottom five over the next five league fixtures, Slot will hope to re-establish a slightly stronger lead by the time it heads to the Etihad in late February.

While that may be a slight concern, Slot’s tactical tweaks against Forest should be a major source of optimism for Liverpool supporters. His decision to deploy Ryan Gravenberch as a hybrid centre-back/midfielder worked wonders as the Liverpool boss spotted Forest’s retreat and lack of attacking threat.

His decision to introduce Diogo Jota as an attacking midfielder was the difference on Tuesday and acted as the catalyst for Liverpool’s revival. Without, scrutiny really would have ramped up over whether the title was slipping out of the Reds’ clutches.