Topic: Match Preview: Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool, Saturday October 22, 12:30pm

[telekon]

1979
Liverpool played Nottingham Forest in the first round of the 1978-79 European Cup. At City Ground, defending champions Liverpool were unable to score and conceded two. The return fixture at Anfield did not produce any goals, and strong favorites for the cup beforehand, Liverpool, were knocked out.

The biggest club from my hometown of Malmö also played in the European Cup that year. Back in these days, with few exceptions, you played with the boys that came from your area. The goalkeeper Jan Möller, lived on my street. When I grew up I'd wave at him like I'd greet anyone else in sleepy suburbia. I didn't know it then, but my near neighbor Jan Möller played in a European Cup final. On the way there he and Malmö FF kept clean sheets against AS Monaco, Dynamo Kiev, and Austria Wien in the semi-final.

After the success against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest beat AEK Athens, Grasshopper from Zürich (who knocked out Real Madrid), and 1. FC Köln to reach the final. At the Olympiastadion in Munich Malmö started the final without two of their best players – midfielder Bo Larsson and defender Roy Andersson – already ruled out with injury and with their captain and key midfielder, Staffan Tapper, breaking his toe in training on the eve of the final. Jan Möller was unable to keep a clean sheet, and Trevor Francis scored what proved to be the only goal the of the game to confirm Nottingham Forest as the Champions of Europe in 1979.


Trevor Francis


Jan Möller

2021
On 21 September 2021, Forest announced the appointment of Steve Cooper as the club's new head coach. Cooper inspired a turnaround in form, arriving with the club in last place of the Championship, yet having them in 7th at Christmas, and all the way up in 4th by the end of the season, qualifying Forest for the playoffs for the first time since the 2010–11 season. In the 2022 Championship play-off semi-final, Forest defeated Sheffield United on penalties to advance to the final against Huddersfield Town, who they beat 1–0 at Wembley Stadium, and were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.

2022
In the summer, Nottingham Forest decided to buy everyone. Twenty-two(!) players were brought in over the summer. Amongst them of course, Neco Williams. Taiwo Awoniyi is also in the squad, having been bought from Union Berlin. Forest beat West Ham in the second week of the Premier League but has since then not been able to win, drawing 3, and losing 7 including the first week. They sit firmly in the relegation zone waiting for all their new players to gel and kick-start their season.

Liverpool
A win here would move us beyond Manchester United - if even for the moment - but that in itself seems like a good prospect. With games coming thick and fast due to the absolutely ridiculous, shambolic, and corrupt "FIFA World Cup", what team do you reckon we'll see on Saturday? Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota is out for a while. Still no Matip and Konate is hopefully not too far away but won't be in for this one. Nat Phillips was on the bench and that's probably where he'll be for this one too. Arthur Melo is out as well, and no news on Naby lad yet. Bobby Clark was on the bench against West Ham but a start for him seems unlikely. Ox also made the team so he is technically in contention.

Tsimikas have been able to rotate with Robbo, who looks likely to start this one since Scouse Greek started mid-week. Ramsay played for the U-21, could he be available soon to give Trent some rest? He was afterall taken in to replace Neco Williams. Probably not for this one though. For midfield we've rotated Thiago, Hendo, and Fabinho recently. Fab came off the bench so he may be in for a start? Not sure if Klopp wants to play Thiago again so he might be rested in favor of Hendo if we continue with two in midfield.

Curtis Jones to get some minutes off the bench? Perhaps Ox as well? We will need lads being available. You can't really bench Salah, and Nunez is starting to warm up. Firmino is difficult to drop on this form. Nunez played some on the left wing for Benfica so he could be utilized there with Jota and Diaz being out, although he's probably the most effective in a central position. Harvey and Carvalho also in contention.

                A. Becker
Trent - Gomez - Virgil - Robbo
         Hendo   -   Fabinho
Mo - Bobby - Nunez - Carvalho

[Fromola]

Probably does us a bit of a favour that we played there last season in a big cup tie which takes the edge off a bit, plus Klopp will know what to expect going there.

Like Wednesday night just got to grind out the 3 points. Early Saturday away kick offs after a Wednesday night match (and a big Sunday game before it) are always going to be tricky and with injuries on top and then Ajax after it.

[stockdam]

Thanks Telekom for the OP.

I wouldn’t go 4-2-4 but whatever way we setup we should win. Just keep the momentum going.

[So… Howard Philips]

Probably does us a bit of a favour that we played there last season in a big cup tie which takes the edge off a bit, plus Klopp will know what to expect going there.

Like Wednesday night just got to grind out the 3 points. Early Saturday away kick offs after a Wednesday night match (and a big Sunday game before it) are always going to be tricky and with injuries on top and then Ajax after it.

On paper should be reasonably comfortable but I can’t remember any recent 1230 kick offs where we won comfortably. Other than Spurs away and Napoli all the remaining matches appear relatively comfortable.

[duvva 💅]

Thanks for the preview telekon. Great story about the Malmo GK.

Two 1-0s in a row, I’d settle for another right now. However if we can perform as we did against City and in the first half v West Ham and with a little more luck in front of goal you’d hope we could make this more comfortable.

I think Robertson is sure to return, but the only other change I can see is possibly Fabinho for Henderson. Both seem to be rotated more so far this season so despite Fab being below his best I can see them being swapped.

[4pool]

Referee: Paul Tierney.
Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Timothy Wood.
Fourth official: Graham Scott.
VAR: Mike Dean.
Assistant VAR: Simon Long.

[anandg_lfc]

It will be interesting to see the forward line and cm combination from klopp. I expect it to be similar to the team below.

-----------------Alisson----------------------

Milner--------Gomez-------VVD------Robbo


Elliott-----Fabinho-------Thiago-------Jones


------------Nunez----------Salah------------


Expecting Ox, hendo, firmino, carvalho and trent to get mins as subs.

[duvva 💅]

Referee: Paul Tierney.
Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Timothy Wood.
Fourth official: Graham Scott.
VAR: Mike Dean.
Assistant VAR: Simon Long.

FFS - up against 12 men for the second weekend in a row

[him_15]

Let's keep the winning streak going!

[Garnier]

Excited for this one. Win a third league game in a row and we might have a stew going

[CanuckYNWA]

Referee: Paul Tierney.

Cant wait for every decision going against us and Forest getting the softest of fouls

Absolute joke this donkey is allowed to ref our games

I think our team pretty much picks itself at the moment with all the injuries

Alisson
Trent
Gomez
VVD
Robbo
Fabinho
Thiago
Elliot
Nunez
Salah
Carvalho

Dont like Salah on the right in this new system so hopefully hes up top, LM we dont really have many options and think Carvalho is a much better option there than Jones

Subs: Adrian, Tsimikas, Phillips, Milner, Henderson, Keita, Jones, Oxlade, Firmino

Positive about this new system is I do think it suits Oxlade best playing a RM role

[Cafe De Paris]

Paul Tierney….. ffs.

[PaddyPaned]

Like Trevor Francis, my late mum came from Plymouth. She always said that Francis dived. Called out a cheat my mum. She also bought me my first Liverpool mug. Handle is broken, but I still have it, the best part of forty years later. Enough nostalgia, let’s get three points here!

[telekon]

Like Trevor Francis, my late mum came from Plymouth. She always said that Francis dived. Called out a cheat my mum. She also bought me my first Liverpool mug. Handle is broken, but I still have it, the best part of forty years later. Enough nostalgia, let’s get three points here!

That's brilliant, mate. Cheers for the nostalgia.

To add another tidbit, Anders "Puskas" Ljungberg, named of course after the great Hungarian, played in that 1979 European Cup final as well. He was later my gym teacher in high school.

[James...]

Could be an important game this.

Win and we go 5th on GD. Same points as United and a point behind Chelsea… who then play each other in the late game that night so we’re bound to pick up some ground on at least one of them.

Ideally we win. They two draw, and in space of week we’ve gone from seriously off the pace in the top 4 race to within a one game striking distance of it.

[Studgotelli]

Could be an important game this.

Win and we go 5th on GD. Same points as United and a point behind Chelsea… who then play each other in the late game that night so we’re bound to pick up some ground on at least one of them.

Ideally we win. They two draw, and in space of week we’ve gone from seriously off the pace in the top 4 race to within a one game striking distance of it.

Not could, IS. Every game is crucial for us. After the Arsenal game I said we needed 13 pts from next 18.

We’ve beat City so have exceeded my expectations so far. We should be getting 3 wins from our next 4. Possibly beat Spurs but any win will do is the motto. Get to the WC with 4 wins out of 4 and conceivably we are still in a title race.

[kavah]

Nice on T.
They fucking hate us so the atmosphere will be good. We need an early goal. And no mistakes.
That Forest team were a totally great. Won Everything.

[Solomon Grundy]

Paul Tierney….. ffs.

Ah, man. Not that clown...

[RogerTheRed]

Come on Redmen!!
Great op that Telekon, I remember 1979 well. Was earning for the first time in my life and decided to follow the Reds round Europe. Went to City ground, match was poor and loads of fans stopped the special  train on the way back and they went on the rob in some shithole the train passed through. Massive police presence when we got back to Lime St. Those were the days 😂😂
Then went to Anfield for the “two nil not enough” chanting bouncing round Anfield but unfortunately it was.
Never liked Forest since especially with gobshite Clough and having been on their end at Hillsborough and hearing their lot chanting “just a bunch of scousers” when it was clear our fans were dying.
So, please win Reds and win well. Nunez showed some good signs on Wednesday, hope he can build on that. Two clear would be nice for a change.

[1892tillforever]

Nice on T.
They fucking hate us so the atmosphere will be good. We need an early goal. And no mistakes.
That Forest team were a totally great. Won Everything.

I'm hoping that the 12:30 kick-off dilutes the atmosphere a little but since it is us, probably not!

We get that wanker Tierney reffing so we need to be 2+ goals better to win by one. Forest have tightened up recently but if we continue the welcome trend of scoring first, we should see it out. Every game to the WC break is a question of grinding out 3 points by any means necessary. Like the second half against West Ham, this probably won't be pretty but we'll just about get a win.

[thaddeus]

Finding some form then playing the bottom side.  I've seen this movie before 

Carrying on my pessimism we don't have the (fit) squad to go very strong for this and Ajax.  Klopp's subs against West Ham suggested he's very carefully managing the minutes of some players.

On the plus side though Forest are really open.  If we get a goal up it should be a procession.  Hopefully the talk of Darwin and hamstrings doesn't amount to anything as he should be capable of putting the game to bed even if he only gets another hour.

[James...]

Not could, IS. Every game is crucial for us. After the Arsenal game I said we needed 13 pts from next 18.

We’ve beat City so have exceeded my expectations so far. We should be getting 3 wins from our next 4. Possibly beat Spurs but any win will do is the motto. Get to the WC with 4 wins out of 4 and conceivably we are still in a title race.

It’s the hope that kills but I haven’t yet fully given up on the title. I would with any other Liverpool team i’ve seen but… in 3 of the last 4 seasons i’ve seen us go on crazy runs.

We’re 7 off City. I think that’s catchable. Arsenal are the problem though. 11 is such a big gap. If we were to win our next 4, and Arsenal dropped even 2 points and we headed off to the world cup break 9 off the top… i’m not giving up to that title yet.

[liverbloke]

It’s the hope that kills but I haven’t yet fully given up on the title. I would with any other Liverpool team i’ve seen but… in 3 of the last 4 seasons i’ve seen us go on crazy runs.

We’re 7 off City. I think that’s catchable. Arsenal are the problem though. 11 is such a big gap. If we were to win our next 4, and Arsenal dropped even 2 points and we headed off to the world cup break 9 off the top… i’m not giving up to that title yet.

thanks op

i think arsenal are false idols - it will be city again but they will slip at some point whereas we cannot

[Funky_Gibbons]

Nice OP, thanks.

Short turn around between the West Ham game and this one so you'd expect 3 or 4 changes. Can see Fabinho, Elliot and Robbo at least coming back into the side.

Forest look like they're playing a bit defensively at the minute so we'll need patience again. 

[UntouchableLuis]

It’s the hope that kills but I haven’t yet fully given up on the title. I would with any other Liverpool team i’ve seen but… in 3 of the last 4 seasons i’ve seen us go on crazy runs.

We’re 7 off City. I think that’s catchable. Arsenal are the problem though. 11 is such a big gap. If we were to win our next 4, and Arsenal dropped even 2 points and we headed off to the world cup break 9 off the top… i’m not giving up to that title yet.

If you get to January 8 or less behind the leader then you obviously have a chance if your squad is good enough. City have come back from similar points behind before.

I think the start we had was too bad though and our injury list is just stupid. If we had Jota and Diaz in the mix again yes it would be possible but we will need a few signings in January if we are serious about it.

[Raid]

Robbo for Tsimikas and then unchanged for me.

Only other potential change would be Harvey in and Mo moved with Darwin for a lightning blitz up top.

[Bread]

Think Forest are there for the taking. As expected, it's taking a fair old amount of time for their 22 new signings to gel into a cohesive unit, and watching them does feel like watching 11 strangers play together. Brighton carved them open a few times on Tuesday but didn't having the finishing touch to win the game, so there should definitely be opportunities for us here.

[NarutoReds]

Great opening, Telekon. Love to read that.

Nottingham Forest, Champions of Europe, 1979...      Class that.

[NarutoReds]

+ Nottingham Post, 06:00, 21 OCT 2022.

Nottingham Forest made a mistake when completing their transfer business in the summer by not strengthening the spine of the team with a "trustworthy core".

That's the view of former Manchester City and Aston Villa defender Richard Dunne, who is not convinced they have brought in the leaders needed to compete in the Premier League. Forest spent around £145 million in the transfer market, bringing in 23 new players.

The ex-Republic of Ireland international says that the Reds were right to bring in so many new faces given the number of exits at the end of last season.

But he does not feel that some of their marquee signings, such as Jesse Lingard and Morgan Gibbs-White, bring enough consistency or leadership qualities around which to build a winning side.

[James...]

thanks op

i think arsenal are false idols - it will be city again but they will slip at some point whereas we cannot

They’ve won 9 of their first 10 games and looked mostly good doing it. Think it’s time to accept they are a good side. Much like how we took a huge jump from 17/18 to 18/19 they have done the same. Whether you think they are a 90+ team or not doesn’t matter as much now due to where we are. Even if Arsenal put up even just a mid 80s point total, which i’d say is likely, then still need to be pretty damn incredible to get there. For us to even go to 85 from here we need to go at 2.46 points a game. Or 94 point season pace.

Not impossible for this side. But damn difficult. And that’s just to get to 85. I think we need 90. I do agree that City are the likely title winners but I think Arsenal won’t be far off. I reckon they’ll be within single digits of City come season end and if that’s the case then we have to take them seriously as title contenders.

[James...]

If you get to January 8 or less behind the leader then you obviously have a chance if your squad is good enough. City have come back from similar points behind before.

I think the start we had was too bad though and our injury list is just stupid. If we had Jota and Diaz in the mix again yes it would be possible but we will need a few signings in January if we are serious about it.

Yeah that damn Brighton game. Even if we’d just won that i’d be sat here, looking at 5 off City, and thinking damn fucking right this title race is on. But it does feel like we need to be perfect from here.

Again, any other Liverpool side in my life I say it’s over. I should be saying it’s over with this one to be honest because we aren’t what we were and so many of our players are so far off their peak (Trent and Fabinho especially) but i’ve just seen this side go on too many insane runs. 8 wins and 2 draws with Nat Phillips and Rhys fucking Williams at CB means nothing is impossible.

These next 4 determine our season. Win them all… and after the world cup break there is only 2 (very winnable)games before the transfer window open. I know expecting FSG to do anything in a transfer window is setting up for failure but, if we did have a Van Dijk style deal lined up with a quality midfielder coming through the door early… then who knows.

28 games left. It’s not impossible this side go 23 wins and 5 draws. Stick 90 on the board again and say fair fucks if you beat that again City.

[disgraced cake]

Expected these to start the season a little better after a tight defeat at Newcastle and then beating West Ham early doors but since then they've been poor. -16 goal difference after 11 games and their recent games have appeared to be ones they could look at for points realistically (on paper)

The crowd will be up for it of course and their players will have to be too as they need points but even with our own injury problems we should be alright here. Scoring first again may just take the game away from them and it's a chance to continue the good defensive run we've began to put together since defeat at Arsenal. I'm not familiar with how Forest line up but they look very blunt going forward and I can only assume their defence is full of Championship level players despite many summer incomings. I think the midfield battle will be crucial, Thiago and Henderson's experience will hopefully give us what we need.

[Sharado]

Going to need to rack up some goals as early as possible with Tierney as ref I'm afraid.

[Fromola]

Lets hope VAR does its job tomorrow.

[sinnermichael]

Mad to think that this fixture was the first ever live Premier League game on Sky. Sheringham got the winner and then pissed off to Spurs a few weeks later.

[KevLFC]

We hate Nottingham...

[DelTrotter]

Should be comfortable enough to finish an excellent 6 days. Hopefully Darwin is ready to go, he'll get a few here I reckon.

[kaesarsosei]

My only concerns about this are the KO time (although I think that suits the away team more than home sometimes), and the fact that I think Cooper is a very good manager and he will turn it around at some point - just hopefully not tomorrow.

I think the starting 11 will be the same as West Ham - perhaps with Fabinho coming in for Thiago or Henderson and maybe therefore Eliott for Carvalho.

[Sudden Death Draft Loser]

Oh FFS

More from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Saturday's game at Nottingham Forest: "Darwin Nunez is one of these we have to check. He had a slight muscle problem but we have to check later."

[So… Howard Philips]

Oh FFS

More from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Saturday's game at Nottingham Forest: "Darwin Nunez is one of these we have to check. He had a slight muscle problem but we have to check later."

Well he did go off as a precaution but precautionary  measures for us usually mean at least a three match absence.