While the Reds aren’t at the sparkling heights they were a few years ago in the Premier League, they’ve had a very promising start to this season and, after a comfortable Merseyside derby win last weekend, Jurgen Klopp’s momentum is undoubtedly in his favor.
So far in nine league games, Liverpool has won six, drawn two, and lost only one, courtesy of Tottenham (and the PGMOL), so it’s been a wonderful start.
With every game in England’s top flight as essential as the last, the Reds must beat Forest at Anfield to keep the pressure on those above them and to continue to make the statement that the title fight is well and fully on from a Liverpool perspective this season.
With that stated, here’s everything you need to know about the game on Sunday.
DATE, KICK-OFF, STADIUM, REFEREE, AND VARIABLES
Date: Sunday, October 29, 2023
Time of kick-off: 14:00 BST / 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT
Anfield is the stadium.
Chris Kavanagh is the official referee.
Richard West and Matthew Wilkes are the assistants.
Matt Donohue is the official’s fourth name.
Andy Madley is the referee.
Harry Lennard, VAR assistant
RECORD COMPARISON
Liverpool and Nottingham Forest both have tremendously rich history in the footballing world, so it’s no wonder that the two sides have played each other 118 times to date.
Liverpool has won 58 of those meetings, drew 29 and losing the remaining 31.
Forest have played the Reds twice since their return to the top tier of English football last season, memorably overcoming Klopp’s side 1-0 at home last October (with ex-Red Taiwo Awoniyi scoring the winner).
In April, Liverpool won a hard-fought 3-2 rematch at Anfield.
The form going into the fixture is essentially what you’d expect.
Liverpool are in fourth place with 20 points, while Forest are in 15th place with ten points, but they have demonstrated they have a tremendous offense when everything falls into place, so the game is far from over.
Andy Robertson, who dislocated his shoulder while on international duty for Scotland against Spain, is by far Liverpool’s most significant unavailability heading into the Europa League meeting.
The entire degree of his injury has not been confirmed, but due to the severity of the injury and the recuperation period involved, it is expected that the full-back will not be able to play again until the new year, which would be a tremendous blow to the squad.
Scotland teammate Ben Doak was again injured during the international break, this time while playing for the Scotland Under-21s.
The degree of Doak’s injury, like that of Robertson, is unknown, although it is thought to be far less serious than that of his Scottish teammate, and he is expected to be included in the squad.
Caoimhin Kelleher is thought to be totally fit again after suffering a knock shortly before the international break, and Cody Gakpo was also verified by Klopp to be back in full training soon before the Toulouse match.
However, there has been no word on the fitness of Reds trio Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara, and Conor Bradley.
Curtis Jones is the only other confirmed absentee, as he misses his third and final game following his contentious sending off against Tottenham earlier this month.
TEAM NEWS FROM NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Both sets of fans will be disappointed as Liverpool cult star Divock Origi has been ruled out of the weekend’s match owing to a hip injury, with the Belgian attacker not expected to return until late November.
New signing Callum Hudson-Odoi is also ruled out with a hamstring injury, while Felipe Monteiro and Gonzalo Montiel are both out with long-term injuries.
Meanwhile, both left-back Nuno Tavares and club talisman Taiwo Awoniyi are being evaluated for their individual injuries, and it is unclear whether either will be fit to play against the Reds on Sunday.
ESTIMATED LINEUP
Liverpool will almost definitely field their strongest available XI against Forest, as the Premier League remains their top priority at this point in the season.
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch; Salah, Nuez, Diaz (4-3-3)
PREDICTION
With the Reds carrying the momentum into the game and Nottingham Forest’s injury woes, there’s no reason for Liverpool not to leave Anfield with another three points on Sunday.
Forest may be a difficult team to break down, so expect a close encounter, but Klopp’s team should just barely win.
Liverpool defeated Nottingham Forest 1-0.
