Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool – Match preview and team news

In partnership with

The Football Faithful

·14 janvier 2025

Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool – Match preview and team news

Nottingham Forest face Premier League leaders Liverpool tonight in what promises to be an intriguing clash.

Forest remain the only team to beat Liverpool in the league this season after they won 1-0 at Anfield back in September.

Vidéos OneFootball

The Tricky Trees overcame Luton Town in the FA Cup on the weekend with a 2-0 victory at the City Ground. The Reds also advanced into the next round as they were untroubled by Accrington Stanley and ran out 4-0 winners.

Both managers have almost full squads at their disposal especially after resting their key figures in the cup.

Nuno Espirito Santo is only missing long-term absentee Ibrahim Sangare while Arne Slot will be without Joe Gomez and Darwin Nunez. The centre-back is expected to be sidelined for an extended period while Nunez is suspended after accumulating too many yellow cards.

Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool – Match Preview and team news

Form

Nottingham Forest: WWWWW

Forest are in an unstoppable mood at the moment and have triumphed in each of their last seven games. That included progressing into the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday as they knocked out Luton.

Nuno Espirito Santo made wholesale changes to the starting eleven, but the second-string side still had too much quality for the Hatters. Paraguayan winger Ramon Sosa was influential in the result as he set up captain Ryan Yates before scoring his first for the club.

Their clean sheet against Luton was their fifth consecutive shutout having also prevented Brentford, Spurs, Everton and Wolves from infiltrating their goal.

Liverpool: WWDLW

Liverpool were untroubled by Accrington Stanley and triumphed 4-0 at Anfield on the weekend.

Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold netted in the first half while youngster Jayden Danns and Federico Chiesa secured the win in the second period. An away tie with Plymouth Argyle awaits them in the next round in early February.

That resounding result put an end to Liverpool’s worse spell of the entire campaign – a two-game winless run. Manchester United held them at Anfield in the league before Tottenham narrowly won the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.

Last Meeting

Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest, Premier League, 14th September 2024

Forest defied the odds to record a memorable victory at Anfield when the two teams last went to battle.

As expected, Liverpool had the lion share of possession in the opening exchanges and they almost made it count. Ryan Yates was robbed on the byline by Luis Diaz as he tried to shepherd the ball out of play. The Colombian dispossessed the Forest skipper before subsequently striking the base of the post from a tight angle.

Trent Alexander-Arnold then almost scored an ‘Olimpico’ – a goal directly from a corner – but Matz Sels was alert to palm over.

The Belgian goalkeeper got down low to stop Alexis Mac Allister’s header before recovering adequately to stop his mishandled save from Luis Diaz’s harmless header crossing the line.

As the game drew on, it was evident that belief was growing amongst the Forest camp that they could steal the victory. And their belief became reality midway through the second period.

Callum Hudson-Odoi breezed past Andy Robertson before curling a precise effort off the post and into the bottom corner. The Englishman’s sumptuous strike was the first goal Liverpool conceded this season, in what was their fourth match.

Forest were devastating in transition once again as Anthony Elanga carved out a chance, but his volleyed effort was pushed aside by Alisson.

The visitors’ resistance frustrated Arne Slot’s Liverpool who could not restore parity in the closing stages.

Predicted Lineups

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Morato; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.

Liverpool XI: Allison, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Jones, Diaz; Gakpo.

What time is kick-off?

Kick-off at The City Ground will be at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday, 14 January, 2025.

Who is the referee?

Chris Kavanagh will be the match official. He will be assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring while John Busby will be the fourth official. The VAR will be John Brooks and he will be assisted by Derek Eaton.