It is being spoken, in hushed tones at the moment, but have Liverpool finally found their mojo in the 2022/23 season? Back-to-back 1-0 victories over Manchester City and West Ham have some fans feeling like this is the real deal. As opposed to the false dawns followed the victories over Bournemouth and Ajax.
We are not fully convinced here at thesportsbank.net. The Reds will get a chance to prove their credentials to the likes of us this weekend. They will take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in Premier League action.
Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have not played each other in league football this century. The last time these two European Cup-winning sides faced each other in the EPL was 1999.
The Merseyside club comfortably won the Anfield fixture of the 98/99 season 5-1. At the City Ground, however, Pierre van Hooijdonk scored an injury-time equalizer to steal a point for the Tricky Trees in a 2-2 draw.
Liverpool at Nottingham Forest FYIs
Kick Off: Oct 22, 2022, at 12.30 pm UK at City Ground
After Extra Time Pod: Spotify Apple Podcasts
Liverpool Starting XI Prediction: Go here
Google Result Probability: N. Forest 8% Draw 14% Liverpool 78%
PL Position, Form Guide: N. Forest 19th, 6pts LLDLD Liverpool 7th, 16pts DDLWW
Team News
Despite losing Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota in the past couple of weeks, Liverpool has been slowly regaining players as they emerge from a well-documented injury crisis. Their past match against West Ham saw the return of Trent Alexander Arnold to the starting lineup. Fellow academy graduate Curtis Jones also made his first appearance since the Community Shield. We spotted even the perennially injured Alex Oxlade Chamberlain warming the bench at Anfield!
Here are the latest words from Jurgen Klopp regarding his remaining injured players.
Luis Diaz (Knee)
“Six to eight weeks, we will see. He looks like a quick healer, but we will see. Could have been worse.” [Oct 11]
Diogo Jota (Calf)
“He will miss the World Cup. [It’s a] pretty serious injury in the calf muscle, and now the recovery process starts. We can say that because he will not be in for a long time; we talk about months.” [Oct 18]
Ibrahima Konate (Other)
“He will be, in the end, out maybe for ten days until he can start training again. So, tomorrow it’s a week and then maybe Saturday. He is back in team training.” [Oct 18]
Naby Keita (Thigh)
“Naby is now in parts of team training.” [Oct 18]
Joel Matip and loanee Arthur Melo are also both out with long-term injuries.
Stuey’s Two Cents
It is hard not to get nostalgic about this fixture. Liverpool and, for a brief period, Nottingham Forest, were two of the best sides in English football prior to the EPL. Getting two traditional giants of the game facing each other at the highest level is exciting, regardless of any perceived gulf in class. It’s the early Saturday kick off, so there is no excuse to miss this one.
Stuart Kavanagh is a journalist currently residing in Broken Hill, Australia. He writes for the Barrier Truth newspaper, along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, He co-hosts the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast and contributes at edgeofthecrowd.com when time permits. He is also the Media & Communications Director at the Newosis Mental Health Foundation. You can find more about the work Newosis Mental Health Foundation is does here.
Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.