Stand-in skipper Jitesh believes the absence of key England players will not affect his side's morale on Sunday
With 98 minutes played at the City Ground it seemed Liverpool were set to drop two crucial points in the Premier League title race but Darwin Nunez struck a last-gasp winner to secure a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
It was the 18th time Liverpool have scored a winner beyond 90 minutes in the Premier League since Juergen Klopp took charge but few felt more important as the Reds maintained the relentless pressure at the top of the table.
Klopp's side's eighth win in nine league games left them on 63 points from 27 games, four points ahead of champions Manchester City who host Manchester United on Sunday and five ahead of Arsenal who play Sheffield United on Monday.
Fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-1 and keep the pressure on fourth-placed Aston Villa who were playing at Luton Town later on Saturday.
Timo Werner struck the equaliser, his first goal for Tottenham, with Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min wrapping up the points for Ange Postecoglou's side.
Everton's relief at having four points handed back to them in midweek after they appealed against a 10-point sanction for breaking Premier League financial rules was soured as they went down 3-1 at home to West Ham United.
Chelsea fought back to earn a point against Brentford in a 2-2 draw after defender Axel Disasi headed an 83rd-minute equaliser in the West London derby.
Fulham and Newcastle United had 3-0 home wins against Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.
Nunez, who started on the bench after recovering from a thigh injury, kept Liverpool's title destiny firmly in their own hands as he glanced in Alexis Mac Allister's cross to spark wild scenes on the away bench and away end.
Relegation-threatened Forest had worked tirelessly to keep Liverpool at bay and were furious when the final whistle sounded with coach Steven Reid shown a red card.
Forest remained in 17th place and their despair was in stark contrast to Liverpool's joy.
"Pretty special afternoon. It's been a tricky schedule," Klopp, whose injury-hit side won the League Cup final last weekend and who face Manchester City next week, said.
"This game didn't go easy for us. We didn't have a great rhythm and the boys felt the intensity for the first time. It's pretty special what the boys did. To get to that points tally was a big fight. It never was easy."
Eberechi Eze marked his return from injury for Crystal Palace with a superb free kick to give his side the lead at Tottenham on the hour mark
But Werner, on loan from RB Leipzig, tucked in Brennan Johnstone's pass in the 77th minute before Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min scored to hand Tottenham an important win.
They have 50 points from 26 games with Villa able to reach 55 from 27 if they beat Luton Town.
Striker Beto gave Everton the lead against West Ham but Kurt Zouma levelled and stoppage time goals by Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez lifted West Ham to seventh place and extended Everton's winless run to 10 league games.
Chelsea remain the bottom half of the table after another disappointing result, a week after losing the League Cup final.
Nicolas Jackson put Chelsea ahead in the 35th minute but goals by Mads Roerslev and Yoane Wissa turned the tabkles after the break before Cole Palmer crossed for Disasi to level.
Brentford moved above Everton into 15th place with 26 points, six clear of the drop zone.
Saturday's results
Brentford 2 (Roerslev 50, Wissa 69) Chelsea 2 (Jackson 35, Disasi 83)
Everton 1 (Beto 56) West Ham 3 (Zouma 62, Soucek 90+1 Alvarez 90+5)
Fulham 3 (Wilson 21, Muniz 32, Traore 90+1) Brighton 0
Luton 2 (Chong 66, Morris 72) Aston Villa 3 (Watkins 24, 38, Digne 89)
Newcastle 3 (Isak 14, Gordon 33, Livramento 90+2) Wolves 0
Nottingham Forest 0 Liverpool 1 (Nunez 90+9)
Tottenham 3 (Werner 77, Romero 80, Son 88) Crystal Palace 1 (Eze 59)
Playing Sunday (times GMT)
Burnley v Bournemouth (1300), Manchester City v Manchester United (1530)
Playing Monday
Sheffield United v Arsenal (2000)
Stand-in skipper Jitesh believes the absence of key England players will not affect his side's morale on Sunday
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