Head Coach Steve Cooper made two changes to the side which drew 0-0 with Brighton in midweek, with Cheikhou Kouyaté replacing Orel Mangala in midfield and Brennan Johnson making way for Taiwo Awoniyi in attack.
The first chance of the game fell the way of Liverpool on nine minutes. Harvey Elliott lofted a ball over the Forest defence to find Fabio Carvalho who controlled and saw an effort denied by Dean Henderson.
The Reds defended resolutely and broke up play nicely, however, with a counter-attack leading to Awoniyi laying the ball back for Kouyaté who shot straight at Alisson from the edge of the area.
Awoniyi saw an effort of his own held by Alisson shortly after as the Nigerian cut inside and shot straight at the Brazilian.
The striker then nearly turned provider as he led another Forest break, sliding in Jesse Lingard to his left whose first-time left-footed strike was stopped by Alisson.
Virgil van Dijk then wasted Liverpool’s best chance of the half, left unmarked but heading back across goal from six yards following a dangerous cross.
The half-time whistle blew after one minute of additional time, with The Reds producing a positive display in the opening 45 minutes.
Half time: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Liverpool
The dangerous Awoniyi robbed Joe Gomez of possession on halfway before being pulled down by the centre-half who was subsequently booked.
From the resultant free-kick, Gibbs-White’s delivery picked out Steve Cook at the far post who fired across goal, and after seeing his initial effort hit the post, Awoniyi was on-hand to fire home the rebound in front of the Trent End for 1-0.
With an electric atmosphere on display at The City Ground, The Reds very nearly doubled their lead soon after. Awoniyi played in Gibbs-White inside the area but James Milner recovered well to produce an excellent block.
Milner was then withdrawn for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson also replaced Carvalho as Jürgen Klopp rang the changes.
Roberto Firmino headed wide from Alexander-Arnold’s corner almost immediately after his introduction, before The Reds made a double change with Awoniyi and Lingard making way for Joe Worrall and Brennan Johnson. Forest switched to a back-three, with Worrall slotting in alongside Cook and McKenna, with Johnson leading the line alongside Gibbs-White.
On 68 minutes, Johnson had his first sight of goal. Gibbs-White slipped in Kouyaté down the left channel and the midfielder’s cross was flicked goalwards by Johnson but Alisson was down well at his near post.
The Reds made their first change in the 72nd minute as Neco Williams made way for Renan Lodi at left wing-back.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, Kouyaté found Yates inside the area only for the midfielder to be denied by another smart Alisson save as The Reds looked to add a second.
Both sides had chances as the clock ticked towards 90, Yates again denied by Alisson when well positioned 15 yards out while Henderson denied Alexander-Arnold's header from close range.
Liverpool's biggest chance came in the second minute of five added on, van Dijk meeting a delivery into the box only for Henderson to preserve his clean sheet by getting down low to his left to make a superb reaction save.
The full time whistle blew on Trentside to hand Forest a second home victory of the campaign, Awoniyi's third of the campaign enough to earn the three points against his former employers.
Full time: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Liverpool