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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 27
Nottingham Forest v Liverpool
City Ground
West Bridgford, England
Saturday, 2 March 2024
Kick-off is at 17h00
Buoyed by their seventh trophy under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool will continue the quest for a second
Premier League title when they face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday, March 2.
The Reds won the EFL Cup for a record 10th time after beating Chelsea 1-0 in the final at Wembley on February 25 thanks to Virgil van Dijk's glancing header from a corner in the 118th minute.
Klopp's side remain at the head of the table following a 4-1 win over Luton at Anfield on February 21, although Manchester City closed within a point of them in second place after edging Bournemouth 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium three days later.
Arsenal are just two points adrift of the league summit in third position as they maintained their impressive run of form with a 4-1 triumph against Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium on February 24.
Aston Villa strengthened their grip on fourth spot with a 4-2 win over Forest at Villa Park to open up a five-point gap to Tottenham (5th).
The Tricky Trees have only picked up one win from their last five outings and find themselves just four points clear of the relegation zone in 16th place,
Everton are three points behind them in 17th position after playing out to a 1-1 draw with Brighton at the Amex, while Luton (18th), Burnley (19th) and Sheffield United (20th) remain unmoved after the bottom three all lost on matchday 26.
In team news, Nuno Tavares sustained an injury against Villa and joins Chris Wood (thigh), Ola Aina, Ibrahim Sangare and Willy Boly on the sidelines for the hosts. Klopp remains without a whole host of first-team players which sees Joel Matip, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold (all knee), Alisson, Thiago Alcantara (both thigh), Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo (all ankle) and Stefan Bajcetic all ruled out. Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai (both thigh) are rated doubtful.
Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo admitted they started poorly as Villa raced into a 3-0 lead before Moussa Niakhate pulled one back just before half-time, with the Portuguese tactician calling for an improvement against the Merseysiders.
"We started really, really bad, the beginning of the game was bad, it was too easy for the opponent to score," Nuno said.
"That is something we are going to work on, analyse and try to understand why and try to understand if we can be better. I really believe we can do better - individually and as a team because it is too easy for the opponent to score."
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Klopp revealed that the comeback against the Hatters would be his new inspiration to the players, who have always been reminded of their famous Barcelona fightback of 2019.
"Tonight is one of those nights where it is difficult to stop talking. I am so happy," the German said. "We had to ignore the fact we were 1-0 down and use the things that are good and improve the counter-press. The second half was a thunderstorm. Wow.
"I will mention this game from now quite a few times. I promised my team a few months ago that I would never mention or use the Barcelona game as an example and I used it again today so I broke my promise.
"Just because before the game, it was kind of similar. Many players missing, stuff like this. The team that time ignored the fact who is missing and I want us to ignore the fact who is missing.
"This is an example tonight. This is their Barcelona, now against Luton. A difficult situation, plenty of reasons to give up in moments: not tonight and I saw only a super group fighting. If you don't limit yourself with bad thoughts, you can fly. And that's what the boys did."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Forest wins - 1
Liverpool wins - 3
Draws - 1
Premier League Matchday 27 fixtures:
Saturday, March 2
17h00: Brentford v Chelsea
17h00: Everton v West Ham United
17h00: Fulham v Brighton & Hove Albion
17h00: Newcastle United vWolverhampton Wanderers
17h00: Nottingham Forest v Liverpool
17h00: Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace
19h30: Luton Town v Aston Villa
Sunday, March 3
15h00: Burnley v Bournemouth
17h30: Manchester City v Manchester United
Monday, March 4
22h00: Sheffield United v Arsenal
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