MY ACCOUNT
– Liverpool have scored eight goals in their last 135 minutes of football
– Forest have conceded four or more goals in away PL games at Man City, Leicester, Arsenal and West Ham
– Recommended bet: Liverpool to score over 3.5 goals
Liverpool welcome relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest to Anfield on Saturday afternoon, looking to make amends for the defeat they suffered at the City Ground back in October.
The resurgent Reds can close the nine-point gap to the top four as they play ahead of Newcastle United, while Manchester United are not in Premier League action this weekend.
It remains a tall order for Jurgen Klopp’s side, but they are running into form again after the German hailed Monday night’s 6-1 demolition of Leeds as their best performance of the campaign.
They face a Forest outfit who are scrapping for survival and on a 10-match winless run that has left Steve Cooper’s side stuck in the relegation zone.
Team news
At Elland Road, Liverpool looked efficient with Trent Alexander-Arnold in a new, hybrid position that allows him to switch between midfield and right-back.
And the Reds performed more like their old selves with Diogo Jota alongside Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah in attack.
With no new injury issues, Klopp is likely to stick with the same starting XI for this game and benefit from another strong bench.
Naby Keita (muscle), Stefan Bajcetic (adductor) and Calvin Ramsay (knee) are the only players unavailable at the moment.
As for Forest, who have seven games left to try to avoid an immediate return to the Championship, Cooper could recall Joe Worrall to a three-man defence that has lacked chemistry.
The manager’s midfield choices are limited by injuries to Cheikhou Kouyate and Ryan Yates, while Gustavo Scarpa Scarpa has missed the last two games due to a calf problem.
Former Liverpool man Jonjo Shelvey could get another chance after being benched for his mistake against Aston Villa, and Jack Colback remains a viable alternative, despite being overlooked recently.
Chris Wood has been ruled out for the rest of the season, leaving Brennan Johnson, Emmanuel Dennis and Sam Surridge as the only striker options, while goalkeeper Dean Henderson is still absent because of injury.
The stats
Liverpool attempted 908 passes against Leeds on Monday, over 100 more than their next-highest tally this season against Crystal Palace in August (804).
At Elland Road, Alexander-Arnold had 153 touches of the ball, 124 passes, 12 accurate long balls, 20 passes into the final third and two assists.
Jota had gone 32 matches, over a year, without netting for the Reds before his double in the 6-1 victory.
Meanwhile, Forest have lost their last five away games in the Premier League and failed to score in ten of their 15 top-flight road trips this season.
Prediction
Liverpool will win, but the question of how many goals they score will be decided by the quality of their finishing and how Forest’s fragile defence copes under pressure.
As both Bournemouth and Man Utd know, the Reds are very hard to stop when they get into full flow, and that could spell disaster for the visitors.
Cooper’s side have been on the receiving end of some severe beatings away from home this season, losing 6-0 at Man City, 5-0 at Arsenal and 4-0 at both Leicester and West Ham.
Klopp’s comments after the Leeds game only fuel confidence that the hosts can score at least four against the depleted and demoralised visitors.
Back Liverpool to score over 3.5 goals at 2/1 with LiveScore Bet.
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