Premier League returns to action on Saturday when Nottingham Forest will travel to Anfield for an encounter between two former European Champions.
Preview
After an early cancellation of tickets to Istanbul, Jurgen Klopp and his team are looking to salvage a top-quarter finish within the remainder of the season.
Liverpool bounced back in some fashion after a succession of horrific performances. The Merseyside club convincingly ran over Leeds United. The victory now sees Klopp’s side 3 points off Aston Villa with a game in hand.
After returning to the top flight of English football following a two-decade-long of wait, Nottingham Forest finds itself relegation-threatened once again. Currently 18th on the table, Steve Cooper’s men are a point outside of the safe zone.
Despite bringing in 21 new players at the start of the season, Nottingham’s deepest fear of relegation still haunts the two-time UCL winners. A decent home record was put to bed by a high-flying United when the hosts went down 0-2 to the Red Devils.
Last 5 Games
Liverpool’s horrible run of form came to a halt during the Reds’ 6-1 demolishing of Leeds. Following a streak of 5 games without a win, Klopp’s men have now secured two draws, 2 losses, and a win in their last five outings.
Riding a similar wave of form are the Nottingham outfit who are currently among the least in-form sides in all of Europe. A loss at home to Man United in their last Premier League fixture means Steve Cooper’s men are now winless in 10 straight matches.
Liverpool: 8th
Win: 6-1 vs Leeds United
Draw: 2-2 vs Arsenal
Draw: 0-0 vs Chelsea
Loss: 1-4 vs Man City
Loss: 0-1 vs Real Madrid
Nottingham Forest: 18th
Draw: 0-0 vs Stoke City
Loss: 0-2 vs Man United
Loss: 0-2 vs Aston Villa
Loss: 1-2 vs Leeds United
Draw: 1-1 vs Wolves
Head To Head
The two sides with rich histories have faced each other a total of 117 times throughout their history. Liverpool has 57 wins whereas 29 games have ended up in a draw. Nottingham won 31 matchups against the Reds.
Nottingham won the most recent fixture between these two sides earlier this season. Taiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal of the game.
Team News
Abductor injury to Stefan Bajcetic has ruled the youngster out of the rest of his breakout season. In a similar fashion, teenager Calvin Ramsay is set to miss out on the entirety of the season. Naby Keita is set for another lay-off after suffering an injury setback during the international break with Guinea. Luis Diaz made his return last week and is set to get more minutes as the season comes to an end.
Injuries have plagued Forest’s season at the wrong time. Manager Steve Cooper will not be able to avail services of Dean Henderson, Biancone, Wood, Boly, Aurier, Yates, Kouyate, and Richards during his trip to Anfield.
Predicted Line-Ups
Liverpool:
Alisson (GK), Trent, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Jones, Salah, Jota, Gakpo
Nottingham Forest:
Navas (GK), Felipe, McKenna, Niakhate, Williams, Lodi, Freuler, Gibbs-White, Danilo, Awoniyi, Johnson.
Where Will The Game Be Decided?
With the likes of Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, and Mohamed Salah, Jurgen Klopp can proudly boast one of the best attacking units in the world.
Liverpool’s front three can bulldoze past defences on their day and have already done it multiple times this season against the likes of Man United, Bournemouth, and Leeds.
If the Reds’ forwards come alive once again, except goals raining left right, and centre past Keylor Navas.
Unless the latter has a field day, or the Forest defenders manage to cage Liverpool’s front three, expect the Jurgen Klopp-led side to blow away yet another opponent in the Premier League.
Predictions
Scalping a point or three against Liverpool at Anfield is simply too much to ask for from a miserable Forest side. We’re forecasting this to be an easy day at work for the hosts.
After being nowhere to be found for the entirety of the first half of the season, Mohamed Salah has come alive for both club and country. The Egyptian King has scored 11 goals in his last 10 games, including a brace against Leeds away from home. We predict the Liverpool ace register his name on the scoresheet once again.
The Liverpool attackers bagged six goals in the last game. The supreme attacking quality Liverpool boasts has been bolstered by the return of Luis Diaz. With that in mind, we believe over 3.5 goals will be scored in the match.
Our Prediction: Liverpool 4-0 Nottingham Forest
Odds
Liverpool to win: 1/6
Draw: 13/2
Nottingham to win: 16/1
*By UniBet. At the time of writing.
Liverpool are marked as the clear favourite by bookmakers heading into the fixture. The odds on “Both Teams to Score” at Anfield stand at 6/5 (2.20) which has a probability of 45.5%, while a bet on BTTS – No is priced at 4/5 (1.80) and has a probability of 55.6%.
Kickoff Time
The afternoon action kicks off at 15:00 GMT at the Anfield Arena.