Nottingham Forest could go from outsider to genuine title contender if they can complete the league double over Liverpool tomorrow evening.
It is the final test for Nuno Espirito Santo's team, which has won the last seven matches in all competitions, and the last five without conceding a single goal.
Liverpool manager Arne Slott said earlier today that he felt the Tricky Trees were in the title race but Nuno was a little more cautious.
He said: “We have to play games. We are here to compete against all teams and I think we are doing well, but nothing has changed in our approach, which remains the same.
“We know what we can do and how we want to do things. We know each other, our strengths and weaknesses. So let's play the game.”
Looking forward to Liverpool. 💪 pic.twitter.com/zTyFBwaUBi
– Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 13, 2025
Asked if he felt Slot was playing mind games before the City Ground encounter, the Portuguese added: “I don’t know but we try as much as possible to ignore what is around us. We never change. It’s the way we see things, the way we see things.” Competition I would say that's how we see life. It's day in and day out, we focus on our tasks and tomorrow it's going to be another tough thing.
Forest enters the match six points behind Liverpool after playing a game more, but knowing that they are capable of beating the Merseyside team after their 1-0 win at Anfield in September.
This is not to say that Nuno was showing anything other than enormous respect for his opponents.
He said: “Salah, Diaz, Jacobo, McAllister, Gravenbrech, Van Dijk, Konate, Trent… Quality everywhere.”
“A fantastic team. They have shown not just in the Premier League but in Europe how good they are. It's about realizing that and facing the game with the real respect necessary to play against Liverpool.”
Team news
Nuno said there are “no major problems” in his squad and they are likely to return to the side that beat Wolves last Monday after several fringe players had the opportunity to impress in Saturday's FA Cup win over Luton.
The same can be said about Liverpool. Slot is still without defenseman Joe Gomez, but aside from that, he has a nearly full-strength squad to choose from.
Expected formations
Jungle: sills; Aina, Milinkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Dominguez, Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; wood
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson; Gravenberch, McAllister, Jones; Salah, Jacopo, Diaz
How to watch
The match kicks off at 20:00 UK time, with live coverage on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate starting at 18:30.
Statistics
- in 8 of the last 9 Nottingham Forest's matches have had a total number of goals under 3.5
- in 8 of the last 9 In Nottingham Forest's Premier League matches, the total number of goals has been less than 3.5
- in 8 of the last 9 In Nottingham Forest's home matches in the Premier League, the total number of goals has been less than 3.5
- in last 4 In Liverpool's away matches in the Premier League, the total number of goals is more than 4.5
- in last 6 Liverpool's matches in the English Premier League, the total number of goals reached more than 3.5
- in 10 of the last 12 Liverpool's matches in the English Premier League, the total number of goals reached more than 2.5
- in last 5 In Liverpool's away matches in the Premier League, the total number of goals has reached more than 3.5
- in 9 of the last 11 In Liverpool's away matches in the Premier League, the total number of goals has reached more than 2.5