PREVIEW: Pereira takes on Liverpool in first home match as Nottingham Forest boss | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest return to the City Ground buoyed by their resounding mid-week Europa League victory and take on Liverpool in Vitor Pereira’s first outing in front of the home crowd.

Forest, 17th in the Premier League, announced the sacking of Sean Dyche in the early hours of last Thursday after 114 days in charge of the club, who sit three points above West Ham and the drop zone.

Although Pereira claimed a resounding 3-0 win at Fenerbahçe in the first leg of their Europa League knockout playoff, he could end just his second game in charge in the bottom three if West Ham beat Bournemouth on Saturday night.

Former Wolves boss Pereira will be keen to emulate the start of his tenure at Wolves last season, when he saved them from the threat of relegation from the Premier League.

The Portuguese manager elected a full-strength side to face Fenerbahce, which ultimately paid dividends and gave Forest daylight heading into their second-leg tie on Thursday 26th February.

But if the Premier League is the priority for Pereira, questions might be raised on whether this decision was counterintuitive given the packed schedule.

Forest have nonetheless invested heavily and boast a wealth of quality players to call upon.

Although just two of his 12 goals in Garibaldi red have come in the Premier League, Igor Jesus has lived up to the billing, while new loanee striker Lorenzo Lucca will offer valuable rotation on the front line.

Forest’s injury list has reduced over recent weeks with their latest boost coming with Murillo’s return to the starting lineup on Thursday night, when he scored an impressive solo-goal.

Matz Sels’ groin injury prompted Forest to replace the Belgian with new signing Stefan Ortega between the sticks for the remainder of their European campaign. He will likely be an enforced starter once more against Liverpool.

The visitors will be without midfielder Endo and club-record signing Alexander Isak on Sunday, who is still recovering from breaking his leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December.

Right-back Jeremie Frimpong, yet to recover from the muscle injury he sustained in the opening minutes of Liverpool’s Champions League clash against Qarabag last month, remains unavailable for selection.

Slot did say that centre-back Joe Gomez will be in contention to start, after he featured as a substitute in the FA Cup tie against Brighton, and may exercise the option to restore a natural defender at right-back.

Their opponents travel to the City Ground with just two defeats since the end of November, with both of those losses coming courtesy of agonising last-gasp winners from the Cherries and Manchester City.

But Arne Slot’s men have enjoyed more than a week of rest since their FA Cup fourth round win over Brighton, while Forest face a tight turnaround from their mid-week success in Turkey.

Liverpool have their sights set on the Champions League places, but Nottingham Forest stopped them in their tracks earlier this season when they ran riot at Anfield in a 3-0 win under Dyche.

Their trip marks the start of six games against sides currently in the bottom half of the Premier League for Liverpool and a great opportunity to fend off the likes of Brentford and arch-rivals Everton.

The coming weeks are an unmissable opportunity for both the Reds and their hosts to climb up the table and give teams below them no opportunities to make gains of their own.