After Liverpool’s crushing of Nottingham Forest yesterday, Steve Cooper will have to make a harsh decision regarding Matt Turner. Mohamed Salah’s goal, which sealed an easy victory for Liverpool, was the result of the Reds’ goalkeeper’s mistake.
Forest gave a lackluster performance today. Turner managed to keep the score reasonably close for a brief stretch in the first half. But he saved a shot from Darwin Nunez, which gave Diogo Jota the first goal for Liverpool.
He was powerless to prevent Nunez making it 2-0 moments later. What happened in the second half though was frankly unforgivable and Turner must now be taken out of the Forest team.
Cooper must make call on Turner for next week’s game
It’s now six without a win for the Reds. After a pretty impressive start for Forest, Turner has seen his form take a turn for the worse and frankly, it’s not good enough.
Cooper’s team were just starting to get going again when the American endured a disasterclass in goalkeeping. After a long ball downfield from Dominic Szoboszlai, the 29-year-old came rushing miles out of his goal and missed everything allowing Salah to tap into an empty net.
Turner checked in at Forest from Arsenal in the summer. He cost the club £7 million and he did produce some good moments earlier on during the 2023/24 campaign.
Now, however, he’s in danger of losing his place in the Forest starting line-up for next week. Forest face Aston Villa at the City Ground and the Reds desperately need a victory.
Who replaces Turner in the Forest team?
The backup is currently Greece’s number one Odysseas Vlachodimos. He was a £10 million summer capture and he won’t be happy to have been playing second fiddle since his arrival.
Quite simply, the goalkeeper deserves a chance to stake his claim for a place now. Turner has looked a little erratic for weeks and his distribution has left a lot to be desired.
Although it may come across as harsh toward Turner, Cooper was likely enraged by this moment of insanity. The Forest goalkeeper didn’t have to act in the way that he did, and Vlachodimos will now forfeit the gloves against Villa next weekend.
