Liverpool head to the City Ground on Saturday looking to make it three Premier League wins from three.
Their opponents, Nottingham Forest, sit bottom of the table with just one win from 11 games this season.
But Liverpool cannot take this game lightly. With the four teams directly above them facing off this weekend, it’s a golden chance to make up some ground.
The Reds have one or two injury complaints to deal with but should look similar to Wednesday night’s win over West Ham. Here’s how we think they’ll set up.
Defence
Another game, another brilliant performance from Alisson Becker. Jurgen Klopp has joked that the Reds’ goalie is starting to annoy him with his all-round winning of life, but he’ll be back between the sticks tomorrow.
In-front of him should be three of the four who started against West Ham. Trent Alexander-Arnold had quite a subdued game against the Hammers and will go in search of his first assist of the season again at Forest.
Alongside him, Klopp doesn’t have much leeway. Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk are in good form anyway though and could make it three clean sheets in a row.
The change should come at left-back, where Andy Robertson will likely take over from Kostas Tsimikas again.
Midfield
Picking a two-man midfield is starting to get harder for Klopp as several options start to return from injury.
Neither Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Naby Keita are ready to start here, though. Instead, the manager will likely pick two from Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara.
Seeing as Thiago has started the last two, with the other pair being rotated, logic would dictate that the Spaniard will sit this one out. Henderson and Fabinho it is.
Attack
Darwin Nunez was the star of Liverpool’s attack against West Ham, but Klopp has admitted that the Uruguayan has had treatment on a tight hamstring.
As a result, it seems as though he won’t be risked at the City Ground. Instead, we expect to see Mohamed Salah moved infield once more, to partner Roberto Firmino.
Firmino’s display against West Ham was labelled as being ‘superb’ by pundit Pat Nevin and he should reprise the role again.
Either side of that pair, Klopp doesn’t have a lot of room to manoeuvre. As a result, it seems likely that the young duo of Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho will get the chance to stake a claim for even more regular action. Elliott on the right, Carvalho on the left.
A little depleted up-front then, maybe. But Liverpool should still have enough to get the job done. Another win would make it a perfect week for the Reds. Come on, lads!
Liverpool’s predicted XI vs Nottingham Forest: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson; Elliott, Salah, Firmino, Carvalho
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