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Jurgen Klopp's side struggled to carve out openings in an even opening period and fell behind when former Liverpool youngster Awoniyi tapped home his third Premier League goal shortly after half-time.

Virgil van Dijk went closest to equalising for desperate Liverpool, who have failed to win a single away league game this season after once again falling short of last term's lofty standards.

While the result lifted Forest off the foot of the table, it left Liverpool 11 points adrift of leaders Arsenal, dealing another blow to the Reds' increasingly forlorn title hopes.  

Dean Henderson stood firm to deny Fabio Carvalho from a tight angle as Liverpool controlled possession early on, before Roberto Firmino headed narrowly wide from the resulting corner.

Forest grew into the contest as the half progressed, though both Cheikhou Kouyate and Jesse Lingard failed to seriously test Alisson from promising positions.

The Reds' below-par performance continued after the break and they were duly punished by Awoniyi after 55 minutes.

The Nigeria striker initially prodded Steve Cook's right-wing delivery against the right-hand post but was on hand to convert the rebound, sending the City Ground into raptures.

Henderson denied Liverpool a quickfire equaliser when he turned Harvey Elliott's powerful effort away from the top-right corner.

Forest were indebted to Henderson once more when the Manchester United loanee stopped Van Dijk's point-blank header in stoppage time, before Brennan Johnson clipped the post with Alisson up the other end during a frantic finish.