Key events
23 min: Fair to say Wirtz is being missed? Forest continue to be all over Liverpool who cannot keep hold of the ball at the moment.
21 min: Hudson-Odoi is to the fore, as he has been all game. Can Forest make something of their dominance of possession? Hutchinson at least tests Alisson but his shot is something of a pea-roller. No trouble for the great man.
20 min: The referee, Anthony Taylor, is not a popular man in Nottingham, from experience. “It’s all about you” is one song they sing.
19 min: A delegation around the ball. Taken short and Murillo smashes with his left peg. The Liverpool wall holds firm and then Gakpo does some decent defensive work. Gibbs-White is booked for not retreating from a free-kick.
17 min: More defending to do for Liverpool. Murillo has a shot blocked, and then Van Dijk and Anderson clash heads, which brings the game to a temporary halt. Both are OK. Forest have a free-kick after Igor Jesus was fouled.
16 min: A Mr Keet gets in touch: “I get really bored of the “Klopp’s team” thing, and the idea in general that managers are responsible for “building” teams. Klopp and Slot, and managers of most other big teams, are part of a recruitment team and, typically, won’t have the final say on transfers (just an input.) Yes, slot benefitted from inheriting a good side, and one that had been well coached by klopp. He then had to manage them and coach them for an entire season in order to win the league. Take training, set the tactics, motivate the team.”
14 min: Jeremy Boyce gets in touch: “I can’t help seeing this fixture without hearing the echoes of the terrible events at Hillsborough in 1989, when these two, at that time, giants of the English game briefly clashed before the tragedy at the Leppings Lane end. Much water has flowed under the bridges of the Trent and Mersey since then and the two have enjoyed vastly differing fortunes. Never mind whether Slot won the League with Jurgen’s team, what is clear to see is that Liverpool have always prioritised continuity in the dug out, whereas…. Does Pereira understand what and who he’s taking on within his own club, never mind the oppos on the pitch ? Another new manager, another new style ? We’re about to find out…”
13 min: The weapon of choice was a training round routine that Forest hurriedly beat away.
12 min: Gakpo passes the ball into open space, a no look, no clue pass, and Forest can go again. They too lose position and Sangare fouls Gravenberch. Is this in Szoboszlai’s range?
11 min: Anderson strides forward and shoots just wide. Forest are all over Liverpool at the moment.
10 min: Aina sets off on a give and go, and is knocked over by Mac Allister. The free-kick is a long way out. And taken short, Van Dijk heads the eventual cross away. There are claims that Gibbs-White was fouled by Gravenberch but nothing doing, not even on VAR.
8 min: Sangare is asked to shoot by the home fans but Forest hold on to the ball. They’ve been good so far. Liverpool are struggling with their zest.
7 min: The corner is low and a waster, not beating the first man. Pereira reaches for his notebook.
6 min: Anderson’s ball to Hudson-Odoi sees Konate come across to clean up, and a corner results, Forest’s first.
5 min: Gakpo, who seems ever all but ever present, chases the ball down the channels. When Salah gets chance to make an incursion, his touch is loose. As it often is these days, sadly.
3 min: Pressure put on Virgil van Dijk gives Forest a glimmer, and then the ball comes back to Forest. Hudson-Odoi takes the ball down, shoots and Alisson comes to the rescue. That was close. It could have been much better than close.
2 min: Liverpool settle into some early possession. It’s loud at the City Ground which is louder these days than it often was in days of yore.
Away we go at the City Ground
1 min: Curtis Jones is in midfield, Szoboszlai lines up at right-back. Forest are going for a league double over Liverpool. It’s been a strange old season for them.
Footage of Wirtz does not suggest serious injury, but he told the coaches he could not play. Will Curtis Jones now play right-back?
Vitor Pereira is applauded as he walks out for the first half. Nottingham Forest fans are rather too used to this type of thing by now.
Wirtz out…
Curtis Jones steps in, after an injury in the warm-up. Or so we think. It may be sickness.
Eric Peterson gets in touch: “I wouldn’t mind Wayne Rooney pulling on an old Everton kit and getting on some podcast to remind Arne Slot, “Easy there, sport. You say that the only thing you and Jurgen Klopp have in common is that you both won the league. That’s not true. You both won the league with Jurgen’s team. Whether you can build a champion of your own is a different question.”
Arne Slot just spoke to Sky, starting with Dominik Szoboszlai at full-back: “He needs to be because that’s what we need. We have our issues, especially in defence. Missing our 2 fullbacks, but Dominic has done that job really well. Last week, Curtis Jones, did his job really well. So that’s the good thing about midfielders, they are usually able to play in more positions than only in the midfields.
“A little bit of a different challenge. because a manager head coach has impact on playing style, but in the end, they’re still the same players. And I think they have a lot of quality players.
“Sometimes games can be equal on set pieces and then other parts of the game are also important. But as I said so many times, it’s very, very, very hard to win a game of football if you concede more set-pieces than you score. So that’s why it just has always been an important part of the game. But that is even increased even more this season.”
Matt Dony gets in touch: “I hope Neco Williams has a great game, and all Liverpool’s goals(!) come down the other flank. I really thought he’d be the successor to TAA, and he’d be a superstar for Wales. He’s obviously very good, can be a really lovely footballer to watch, but just never quite became what we were hoping. The difference between ‘good’ and ‘great’ is such a fine line in so many ways, but a yawning chasm in others.”
Vitor Pereira is currently sat on his own in the Forest dugout but spoke to Sky Sports, starting with that big win at Fenerbahce: “It was special mentally. The team was there in the first minute. This is the squad we need, mentally and tactically. And this is what we need today.
“We need to be organised when we are defending, we need to be committed with the team. We need the spirit to run, win duels and when we have the ball, it’s about quality and talent. Expressing themselves. I try to give them confidence to do that. We cannot face a game thinking about the position in the table.
“In my opinion, we need to do our best, be ourselves because I don’t want a team that plays in a way, then changes a way to play. I want a team with identity, trusts themselves and have confidence in the way we are working to play.”
For Forest, an unchanged team from Fenerbahce, while for Liverpool, two changes from Brighton in the FA Cup, Ryan Gravenberch in for Curtis Jones and Hugo Ekitike in for Federico Chiesa. That looks like Szoboszlai at right-back, with Gravenberch as midfield anchor.
The teams
Nottingham Forest: Ortega, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus. Subs: Gunn, Morato, Ndoye, Dominguez, Lucca, Yates, Jair Cunha, McAtee, Bakwa.
Liverpool: Alisson, Szoboszlai, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike. Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Chiesa, Jones, Robertson, Nyoni, Ramsay, Morrison, Ngumoha.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Arne Slot was in punchy mood in his Friday press conference.
And it went well for Pereira back at Fenerbahce.
I was at Vitor Pereira’s unveiling earlier this week. He spoke well, I thought.
Preamble
All change at Forest – again – with Vitor Pereira the third new manager to be shown off to the City Ground this season. His reign started well in midweek with a good Europa League win. Now for Liverpool, on the revival path though rueing defeats to Bournemouth and Manchester City. They’re in a serious race for the top four/five while Forest stare down the relegation battle. Plenty to play for, in a fixture of rich history.
Source From: Premier League | The Guardian
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