Liverpool are searching for their first away win of the 2022/23 Premier League season as they take on basement club Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
The Tricky Trees held Brighton to a goalless draw at the Amex Stadium a night before Liverpool made back-to-back wins in the Premier League and at Anfield with a 1-0 victory over West Ham.
NOT vs LIV Match Details
Date: Friday, 22 October 2022
Time: 12:30 (BST) / 17:00 (IST)
Venue: The City Ground, Nottingham
NOT vs LIV Match Preview
The 0-0 draw with Brighton in the midweek at Amex aggravated Nottingham Forest’s winless run to nine Premier League games but this was their first point earned in away games back in the top flight. With neither Wolves nor Aston Villa winning their games, the share of points was crucial for Steve Cooper’s side to regather some momentum and move away from the bottom place with only three points separating them from safety. Just when the Tricky Trees thought they will build something out of the draw a chaotic round of fixtures hits them with Liverpool visiting them first at the City Ground then a trip to make at the Emirates to face league leaders Arsenal before the end of the month. Furthermore, this is the wrong time to face the Reds caught winds in the sail with consecutive wins in the league having struggled to register one for over a month. Liverpool have not forced more than one goal in the last couple of games but Forest will be aware of the attacking strength and intensity the side could produce on their day. The 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth earlier in the season and the 7-1 tossing of Rangers in the Champions League only a week ago are lively reminders. Steve Cooper will turn to his trusted goalkeeper Dean Henderson to save their blushes once again as he pulled out 7 saves against the Seagulls in the draw. On loan from Manchester United, the 25-year-old has previously shown his shot-stopping ability playing for Sheffield United and for his parent club too. The manager insisted everything is headed in the right direction but since their 1-0 win over West Ham at the City Ground two months back, Forest have only grabbed a point in the last four home games. Their tally of four points earned in all the home games so far is the worst in the division in history leaving them with only a few positives to think about before taking on Jurgen Klopp’s men at the weekend.
Liverpool could and should have been out of sight if they had not failed to find the net repeatedly in the first half in the eventual 1-0 win against West Ham midweek in Anfield. In the end, they had to grind out the victory with Alisson keeping out Jarrod Bowen, clumsily brought down by Joe Gomez, before the break and a late attempt in front of goal from Thomas Soucek miraculously blocked by substitute James Milner to confirm the victory for the home side. Uruguayan star Darwin Nunez finally manage to score his first goal in front of the home crowd in the 22nd minute after seeing his first shot on the half-volley saved by Fabianski and the keeper coming in his way again before striking the post. Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah also spurned a lot of chances in the first half to make it difficult for Liverpool later on but the Reds hold on. Jurgen Klopp hooked some of the star performers, including Nunez, in the match near the hour mark considering the fatigue of the amount of games being played and especially the injuries pile up that led them to the worst start in their Premier League campaign. Nevertheless, the two hard-fought yet confidence-driving wins over Manchester City and against the Hammers adding to the big win at Ibrox will help them to build a steady momentum lacking significantly this season. Victory at Forest not only will hand them the first away win of the season but also take them within a point of the top four places, the prime objective for the Reds to rescue their season at the moment. This will be the first meeting between the sides in the Premier League since 1999 and the 1-0 win for Liverpool in the FA Cup in March at this ground this year although the goal scorer on the day, Diogo Jota won’t be available for the Reds this time. Liverpool have also not won in five Premier League games at this venue, drawing three and losing the rest, so this will be an added motivation for them to put things right before late.
NOT vs LIV Team News
Both sides have an injury crisis in their squad with Nottingham Forest missing four of their extraordinary number of summer recruits ahead of the clash. Harry Toffolo, Moussa Niakhate, Omar Richards and Renan Lodi are struggling to regain fitness before the end of the month. The left-back picked up a hamstring injury only 17 minutes after coming onto the pitch in the second half of the goalless draw with Brighton and he got substituted. Midfielder Jack Colback is the other player ruled out with a back injury. Neco Williams will be lining up to face his old side where he started his football career spending seven years at Merseyside.
Injuries have been a forefront topic of Liverpool’s miserable season so far but Jurgen Klopp has no fresh concerns to think about from their 1-0 win against West Ham in midweek. The boss made three substitutions on the hour mark to give Thiago Alcantara, Fabio Carvalho and Darwin Nunez deserved rest. Thiago and Carvalho have struggled with injuries lately while the goal-scorer on the night, Nunez had a little issue at half-time which prevented him to stay longer on the pitch but all are available for the weekend game. Curtis Jones finally returned from his injury woes to gain the first minutes of the season. Ibrahima Konate remains a doubt with a muscle injury while Joel Matip (calf), Diogo Jota (calf), Luis Diaz (knee) and Arthur Melo (muscle) are out. Naby Keita was back in training with the teammates for the first time since the Community Shield with Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and Calvin Ramsey also involved after their injury layoffs.
NOT vs LIV Predicted Lineups
NFFC: Henderson; Serge Aurier, Steve Cook, Scott McKenna, Nico Williams; Orel Mangala, Remo Freuler, Ryan Yates; Gibbs-White, Brennan Johnson, Emmanuel Denis
LIV: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson; Mohamed Salah, Fabinho, Thiago, Fabio Carvalho; Roberto Firmino, Darwin Nunez
NOT vs LIV Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Alisson (7.5)
DEF: Trent (8.5), Gomez (7.5), Van Dijk (8.5), Williams (9)
MID: Thiago (6.5), Freuler (8), Gibbs-White (8.5)
FW: Salah (9), B Johnson (9), Nunez (8.5)
Vice-Captain: Darwin Nunez
Captain: Mohamed Salah
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