Jurgen Klopp will take Liverpool to the City Ground to take on struggling Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s lunchtime Premier League contest.
It took a Ruben Neves penalty for Wolverhampton Wanderers to get the better of a dogged Forest side last weekend, and Steve Cooper’s side continued their newfound defensive resilience at the Amex Stadium, holding Brighton & Hove Albion to a 0-0 draw on the south coast.
The Tricky Trees left the Amex Stadium with a point, but they had on-loan goalkeeper Dean Henderson to thank for the lucky draw as he made a series of saves to bag his second clean sheet this season.
The result gave Forest just their second point from their last eight top-flight games (D2, L6).
Cooper insisted that taking a point away from the Amex was a step in the right direction for his team, who are the league’s joint second-worst goalscorers with just seven strikes to their name – only Wolves rank lower in that category (5).
Forest fans can be encouraged by the fact that six of their side’s seven top-flight goals this season have come at the City Ground, but a tally of four points from five home games represents the worst record in the league.
But for their appalling goal difference, an improbable win over Liverpool could see Forest escape the drop zone, even if only temporarily.
However, Liverpool will have no intention of seeing their three-match winning streak in all competitions end.
While their injury problems are showing no signs of letting up, Klopp’s side have scored first in their last two games.
They have held on for three points each time, much to the delight of fans who have become accustomed to seeing their side conceding the first goal this season.
The Reds battled to a 1-0 victory over West Ham United side in midweek after Darwin Nunez directed a downward header beyond the reach of Lukasz Fabianski in the 22nd minute.
Alisson continued his excellent recent form, this time stopping Jarrod Bowen from grabbing a first-half equaliser from the penalty spot.
Liverpool saw out the win, but it was by no means a walk in the park. However, they will expect a much easier run when they travel to Forest, who are still chasing their second league win since gaining promotion.
The Reds are up to seventh place in the table after picking up 16 points from ten games and have cut the gap to fourth-placed Chelsea down to just four points.
They will now travel to Forest for the first time in the Premier League since April 1999.
This game also epitomises a contest between two sides on either end of statistics as only Manchester City (177) have had more shots than Liverpool (175) in the league this season, while only Everton (183) have faced more efforts than Nottingham Forest (176).
Diogo Jota’s goal was all it took to separate these two sides in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last season.
However, a bit of history is on Forest’s side as Liverpool have never won in five league away games against them (D3, L2).
The City Ground is the only venue the Reds have played at more than once in the competition and never won.
Match Preview
Nottingham Forest
Cooper likes his side to play with intent and an attacking vigour, but after seeing his side concede a league-high 21 goals following the 4-0 thumping at Leicester City, the Welsh manager has since resorted to a more reserved approach.
The tactical switch appears to have paid off as they have conceded just two goals in their last three games, but their offensive output still needs work as they have scored just once in their last four games and failed to register a shot on target against Brighton.
Forest are also winless in their last four league home games (D1, L3) despite netting the first goal in each of their previous three.
They are on their longest winless run in the league after registering three draws and six losses since their 1-0 triumph over West Ham in August, and have also failed to score on five occasions in this run and conceded 21 goals, although they kept a clean sheet last time out.
Liverpool
Records, they say, are made to be broken, and while Klopp’s men will undoubtedly be intent on extending their winning run, putting a stop to their winless run at the City Ground will be an added incentive.
Liverpool’s away record against newly promoted sides also swings the odds further in their favour as they are unbeaten in their last 16 away league games against such sides since a 2-0 loss at Hull City in February 2017 (W11, D5).
It could also be an opportunity to end their awful away form thus far, having failed to win any of their four league away games (D2, L2). They last had a longer run without an away win from the start of a season in the 2006/07 campaign (7).
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool Predicted Line-ups
Nottingham Forest (4-3-3): Dean Henderson; Neco Williams, Steve Cook, Scott McKenna, Renan Lodi; Orel Mangala, Ryan Yates, Remo Freuler; Morgan Gibbs-White, Emmanuel Dennis, Brennan Johnson.
Liverpool (4-4-2): Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson; Mohamed Salah, Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Fabio Carvalho; Darwin Nunez, Roberto Firmino.
How to Watch?
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool, alongside all other fixtures in England’s top flight, is available to watch online via live Premier League streams.
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool Prediction
Forest have been tighter at the back in recent games, but their attacking concerns remain alive and could prove costly against a steadfast Liverpool.
The home side need an upturn in results, but we expect the Merseyside outfit to skip past Forest with a minimum of fuss.
Nottingham Forest 0-3 Liverpool
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