Liverpool travel to City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday, bidding to make it three wins on the bounce in the Premier League.
The Reds followed up their 1-0 success over Manchester City with a 1-0 win victory against West Ham United at Anfield in midweek. Back-to-back wins has lifted Jurgen Klopp’s side to seventh in the table, four points adrift of the fourth spot.
The mood has changed over the last week or so around the club as Klopp’s side head to Nottingham Forest as overwhelming favourites.
Liverpool Team News
Darwin Nunez, Thiago Alcantara and Fabio Carvalho were all substituted just before the hour mark against West Ham, but Klopp suggested that the changes made were purely cautionary. It will be a big boost for Liverpool to hear all three players are fine and will be available for the weekend fixture.
In what is another encouraging update, Naby Keita was spotted in training on Thursday as the midfielder stepped up his recovery from injury. Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate could return to training next week, but Diogo Jota, Arthur Melo and Luis Diaz are long-term absentees for the Reds.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup vs Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
Alisson made a great save to deny Jarrod Bowen from the penalty spot on Wednesday, helping Liverpool keep a clean sheet and secure all three points. He will be hoping to keep another clean sheet when the Reds travel to Nottingham Forest.
Defence
In front of Alisson, Virgil van Dijk will start alongside Joe Gomez in central defence in the Liverpool lineup. The partnership of Van Dijk and Gomez is starting to look solid, and the duo will look to keep the Forest forwards quiet at the weekend.
While there is a chance Jurgen Klopp might deploy James Milner in the right-back position, we are still backing Trent Alexander-Arnold to feature in the Liverpool lineup given the topsy-turvy season he had been having prior to his injury issues, but there is a chance of Andrew Robertson being recalled into the side in place of Kostas Tsimikas at left-back.
Midfield
Up ahead in midfield, Klopp could shuffle his pack following a quick turnaround.
Fabinho could come in place of Thiago to add more security to the Liverpool backline. In that case, Fabinho would partner Jordan Henderson in the centre of the pitch and the duo will aim to get things under their control as quickly as possible at City Ground.
Roberto Firmino is now one of the first names on the team sheet. He is expected to take the No.10 position in the Liverpool lineup despite having a consecutive run of three games, acting as the creative link between Liverpool’s midfield and attack.
Attack
Darwin Nunez looks to be finding his feet in front of goal, helping the Reds secure a crucial 1-0 win over West Ham with a stunning first-half header. While Klopp did mention Nunez having a slight injury issue to deal with, given the form he has been hitting, the manager will give every chance to the player to feature against a struggling Nottingham Forest side.
He is expected to lead the Liverpool attack, with Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho providing flair, creativity and speed from the wide areas.
Klopp will have the likes of Harvey Elliot, Curtis Jones, Thiago and James Milner to bring on off the bench.