English Premier
2025-01-14 - Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Tuesday 14th January 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Nottingham Forest
The fans won't want to be compared with East Midlands rivals Leicester City, but it has not been lost on outsiders that Nottingham Forest have the same number of points that The Foxes had at this stage of the season in the year they upset the odds and won the Premier League title. Nuno Espirito Santo and the board have to be very happy with the work and the results from the first half fo the season, but the manager has insisted he is only focused on each game as they come and not thinking too far ahead.
Of course the manager is going to downplay the ability of Nottingham Forest to win a first English title since 1978, but the overachieving current group of players are 3rd in the Premier League table and 'only' 6 points behind leaders Liverpool. The fans will arrive at the City Ground with plenty of hope as they watch Nottingham Forest try and improve their 5-2-2 record at home.
Nottingham Forest beat Luton Town in the FA Cup Third Round this past weekend and that makes it 7 wins in a row in all competitions, including 6 in a row in the Premier League. The Tricky Trees were beaten 1-3 here by Newcastle United just prior to the November international break, but they have bounced back to win 4 in a row at the City Ground.
Ibrahim Sangare is out, but Nuno Espirito Santo has stated that the remainder of the squad are all ready to compete. He was able to rest some key players for the FA Cup win over Luton Town and that is a bonus ahead of this huge fixture.
Liverpool
One or two recent results have been disappointing as far as Liverpool are concerned, but Arne Slot will still feel pretty happy with the position of his club in all four competitions they have entered. Big Cup games will be coming up in and around the Premier League fixtures to be played, and the manager is going to want to keep his players fresh, but focused.
Hope has been offered by Liverpool to their title rivals with some dropped points over the last month, but The Reds are still 6 points clear of their nearest rivals and with a game in hand. The Reds play at the home of one of the closest contenders with a 7-2-0 record away from Anfield in the top flight and Liverpool have scored 27 goals in those matches.
Liverpool have won 5 of their last 7 games in all competitions, but they have drawn with Manchester United in the Premier League and lost at Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup Semi Final First Leg in the New Year. The side had won 4 away games in succession in all competitions, but Liverpool were beaten in their most recent fixture on their travels.
Joe Gomez is out with an injury and Darwin Nunez is suspended. Alisson, Virgil Van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah should all be in the starting eleven after being rested against Accrington Stanley.
Head to Head
The only Premier League defeat Liverpool have suffered this season was back in September against Nottingham Forest.
An injury time goal saw Liverpool beat Nottingham Forest 0-1 here last season, but the year before the fixture ended 1-0 in favour of the home team.
Prediction
Both teams made their way past lower League opponents in the FA Cup Third Round this past weekend and were able to do that with some key players rested.
This is important with this fixture coming up on Tuesday, one that could potentially have a big impact on the Premier League title race.
Even now, it is hard to think of Nottingham Forest as a potential title winner, despite having the same number of points as Leicester City in their surprising title success in 2016.
A strong run of form deserves a lot of respect and the group of players are focused and confident, while other clubs will have European commitments to serve as a potential distraction. However, it is still a big ask for Nuno Espirito Santo's team and the manager has made it clear that he is trying to keep his players focused on match by match.
Nottingham Forest have been in really good form and they have a strong defensive organisation, which is backed up by quality in the final third.
The manager will want his team to show a bit more defensively than they did at Wolves where the scoreline flattered them, but the fans will be firmly behind Nottingham Forest and this is a big test for Liverpool.
Dropped points have not really been capitalised on by the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea, who feel like teams that could potentially string the wins together to keep the pressure on Liverpool where Nottingham Forest are not expected to.
Liverpool's results in the New Year have not been impressive, but the performances against Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have been a touch concerning. The key players have had plenty of time to rest and just ease some of the fatigue ahead of this huge Premier League game, but Liverpool will understand how tough the task is to win at the City Ground.
It would be a real disappointment for the neutral and all of Liverpool's title rivals if they are able to win here easily.
Nottingham Forest will be organised and they will feel they can exploit some of the defensive vulnerabilities that Liverpool have been displaying over the last couple of weeks, especially with the squad also well rested. The win at Anfield will have focused the Liverpool players ahead of this trip to the City Ground, but Nottingham Forest are in strong form and backing them with a start on the Asian Handicap should mean a push at worst at the current line.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Liverpool
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Nottingham Forest + 1 Asian Handicap at 1.78 with SportBet.One
