Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool Prediction: Early scare for league leaders?

Nottingham Forest must quickly bounce back from the pain of Wednesday's FA Cup fifth-round exit to Manchester United as they prepare to host Premier League leaders Liverpool at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon (KO, 15:00).

Forest were undone by a controversial late Casemiro strike at the same venue in midweek but they did win their last league game there against West Ham United (2-0) on February 17.

They were also victorious the last time Liverpool visited back in October 2022, with ex-Reds forward Taiwo Awoniyi getting one over his old side, but Jurgen Klopp's team are unrecognisable from the side that finished the previous campaign in fifth.

With fellow title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal not in action until Sunday and Monday respectively, Liverpool have the chance to extend their lead at the top of the table to four points, for 24 hours at least.

Team News

Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo made four changes to his starting XI in midweek from the side that lined up in their 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa last Saturday.

Matt Turner, Harry Toffolo, Ryan Yates and Divock Origi all came into the side, but Matz Sels, Moussa Niakhate, Nicolas Dominguez and Callum Hudson-Odoi will all expect to return this weekend, and the aforementioned quartet are at risk of returning to the bench.

Ola Aina, Willy Boly, Ibrahima Sangare, Nuno Tavares and Chris Wood all remain out through injury.

Liverpool still have a host of injury concerns themselves, with the likes of Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones all definitely out of the trip to the East Midlands.

The availability of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai is still unknown with none of the trio playing any of their last three matches, while Wataru Endo is still doubtful after sustaining a knock in Sunday's Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea, which saw him miss Wednesday's FA Cup win over Southampton.

Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz should return to the starting XI while there could be a start for one of Bobby Clark, James McConnell or Jayden Danns with the teenagers all impressing recently, the latter in particular after his brace against the Saints.

Match Odds

The odds of 9/2 about the home win imply that Forest have an 18.2 per cent chance of recording back-to-back home wins in the Premier League, whilst the visitors, who have won their last three league games, are 8/15 pick up three points and add to Espirito Santo's relegation concerns. The draw, meanwhile, is 7/2.

Both teams to score has odds of 4/7, and over 2.5 goals is 4/9.

Liverpool to win and both teams to score - Yes @ 13/8

Klopp's side are just getting things done at the moment, no matter the task in front or the limited pool of players available to them. They beat Forest 3-0 in the reverse fixture in October, and with Espirito Santo's side losing four of their six Premier League games in 2024 - winning just once - the visitors should pick up another vital three points here as they continue their tilt for the title.

The scoreline might not be as kind as it was at Anfield though, with Forest posing a tougher test at the City Ground. They've scored in seven of their last eight on their own patch, which includes defeats to Arsenal and Newcastle United, but they have lost six of their last eight at home in the league.

First team to score - Nottingham Forest @ 9/5

Liverpool have been slow starters this season, conceding first in 11 of their 26 Premier League matches, despite winning 18 of them. Forest have scored first in 11 of their 26 league games, including seven of their 13 at home.

Klopp will be without a number of regular starters again on Saturday which could see them caught cold by the hosts. The German can consider his side fortunate not to have conceded early on against Southampton in midweek, with the Saints seeing a first-minute effort ruled out for offside and a number of other opportunities missed.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.