MY ACCOUNT
On the face of it, Nottingham Forest may have steadied the ship in claiming two draws in their last three games as they battle to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Scratch beneath the surface, however, and Forest supporters still have plenty to worry about.
Steve Cooper’s men returned from Brighton with a point on Tuesday night, but they were lucky their opponents were not at their best in front of goal.
Their hosts enjoyed 70% possession, rained in 18 shots and rattled the woodwork, while Forest barely crossed the halfway line and failed to test Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez on a single occasion.
In Forest’s only other positive result from their last eight outings, a struggling, out-of-form Aston Villa side had more possession and twice as many shots as their hosts at the City Ground in a 1-1 draw.
Now Cooper welcomes a Liverpool side who have been boosted by a thumping 7-1 win at Rangers in Europe and an impressive defeat of champions Manchester City.
On Wednesday night, they followed up those victories with a businesslike performance against West Ham that was more comfortable than the 1-0 scoreline suggests. If Liverpool are returning to being their old selves, Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson will again be in for another busy afternoon.
Team news
Cooper will again be without centre-back Moussa Niakhate and midfielder Jack Colback, while Omar Richards is still a couple of weeks from returning from a fractured leg.
Left-back Harry Toffolo came on as a substitute at Brighton but had to come off again less than 20 minutes later with a knock, so is an injury doubt.
Midfielder Lewis O’Brien missed Tuesday’s trip through illness and will be assessed ahead of the game, while full-back Renan Lodi needs to prove his fitness as he continues to battle an ankle injury.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has several injuries across his squad, with Diogo Jota last weekend joining fellow attacker Luis Diaz on the sidelines until after the World Cup.
Klopp’s midfield concerns are starting to clear up, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain returning to the bench in midweek and Naby Keita back in training. However, this weekend’s match might come too soon for Keita, while Arthur is expected to be out for an extended period.
Joel Matip again misses out with a calf strain, and while fellow centre-back Ibrahima Konate is closer to a return, the Frenchman looks unlikely to make it back in time for the trip to Nottingham Forest.
The stats
Nottingham Forest have lost three of their five Premier League home games this season, losing 3-2 to promoted pair Bournemouth and Fulham and 2-0 to Tottenham.
On the only occasion Forest managed to keep a clean sheet at the City Ground, visitors West Ham created 2.1 expected goals but were denied twice by the crossbar and once by VAR.
Henderson and Lady Luck will again be needed if Forest are to get anything against a Liverpool side who are experts at seeing off lesser sides, thrashing Bournemouth 9-0 even when out of form this term.
Last season, Liverpool were incredibly consistent against teams in the bottom half, winning 19 of those 20 games and drawing the other, 3-3 away at Brentford, while keeping 13 clean sheets.
In those matches, the Reds scored a whopping 56 goals at an average of 2.8 goals per game. And they were almost exactly as dominant away as at Anfield, with Klopp’s men scoring 27 of those goals on the road and 29 at Anfield.
Prediction
Liverpool may not have hit their form from last season just yet, but three impressive wins on the bounce show that Klopp’s men are steadily getting back to their best.
While Forest may still improve once Cooper decides on his best starting XI, they seem like a team still in desperate need of some consistency.
Liverpool should cruise this and dutching your stake between the 3-0 and 4-0 correct scores at 6/1 and 19/2, respectively, with LiveScore Bet would pay at just over 3/1 if either score lands.
