By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-08-27 12:34:08 | Updated at 2026-09-19 03:41:13
3 weeks ago
After indifferent outings in their respective Premier League openers, these two teams will be looking for their first win of the season. We look ahead to Saturday’s early clash with our Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest prediction and preview.
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest: The Key Stats
- The Opta supercomputer gives Liverpool the upper hand ahead of kick-off, with a win probability of 61.1%.
- Liverpool have lost their last two league matches against Forest at Anfield, more than they had in their previous 30 (W24 D5 L1).
- Since their return to the Premier League in 2022, Forest have defeated Liverpool three times, more than any other side in the league during that period.
After a summer of significant change and a rather ordinary opening matchday, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest will both be eager to calm any early nerves and claim their first win of the season when they face off at Anfield this weekend.
The Andoni Iraola era at Liverpool got off to a tepid start last Sunday, with the Reds twice coming from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park, including a 99th-minute penalty from Dominik Szoboszlai.
While there were positives for Iraola to build on, there is a lingering sense that Liverpool’s squad needs further reinforcements if they are to once again challenge for the Premier League title.
The signings of Jérémy Jacquet, Víctor Muñoz and Ronald Araujo will provide some much-needed depth, and recent reports suggest the Reds are progressing in talks to sign Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain. Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh and Crystal Palace’s Ismaïla Sarr also reportedly remain possible late-window targets.
Iraola looks likely to go into Saturday’s home opener against Forest with the same squad that drew with Newcastle, though.
That draw extended an unfavourable streak for Liverpool, who are now winless in five Premier League matches (D3 L2). Their last longer run without a win came between May and September 2012.
Liverpool should take confidence from having won their first home match in 12 of the last 13 Premier League seasons, however, with the only exception being a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace in 2022-23.
In fact, the Reds have not lost their first match at Anfield in a league campaign since a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on the opening weekend of the 2003-04 season, going unbeaten in their last 22 home openers (W17 D5).
Forest will harbour hopes of ending that streak, though Oliver Glasner’s tenure has not got off to the glittering start he would have wanted.
The ex-Crystal Palace manager suffered back-to-back home defeats to Leeds United in his first two games in charge: a 1-0 loss in Forest’s Premier League opener last weekend, followed by a 2-0 defeat in the third round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday.
An adjustment period was always likely, especially given the tumultuous campaign Forest endured last season. But even so, an opening-day defeat and cup elimination before the end of August is certainly not how Glasner would have expected his tenure to begin.
There remains optimism, though, with Forest signing Liam Delap from Chelsea. The striker struggled at Stamford Bridge last season, but his new club will hope he can recreate the form he showed for Ipswich Town two seasons ago when he scored 12 goals in 40 games.
But Forest have not fared particularly well in their opening away matches of a season, winning just one of their last eight (D3 L4) – a victory over Southampton in 2024-25.
Forest did, however, win three of their final four Premier League away matches last season (L1), and he will want them to build on that resilience at Anfield.
They should take further belief from having scored in each of their last 10 away matches – the longest ongoing run in the league – netting 15 goals across their last five games on the road.
A major contributor to that scoring run has been Morgan Gibbs-White, who boasts a formidable record at Anfield. The Forest talisman has scored (2) or assisted (1) three of his side’s last six goals there, while no player has scored more Premier League goals overall in 2026 than Gibbs-White’s 12.
For Liverpool, Szoboszlai has done much of the heavy lifting recently, contributing to 11 goals across his last 16 league appearances (5 goals, 6 assists).
Since the start of that run on 24 January, only Bruno Fernandes (16), Gibbs-White (13), Jarrod Bowen (13) and João Pedro (12) have recorded more goal involvements in the top flight than the Hungarian.
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest Head-to-Head
Despite their current form, Forest will have plenty of reason to feel confident heading to Anfield. Since returning to the top flight in 2022, they have won more Premier League games against Liverpool (3) than any other side.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have lost their last two league meetings with Forest – more defeats than they suffered in their previous 30 (W24 D5 L1).
The Reds have never lost three consecutive home games against Forest, and Iraola will be desperate to keep it that way, with Crystal Palace the last visiting side to win three straight Premier League matches at Anfield, doing so between 2015 and 2017.
Last season was a convincing 3-0 win for Forest at Anfield, with goals coming from Murillo, Nicolò Savona and Gibbs-White.
Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest Prediction
Forest’s recent dominance over Liverpool does them no favours with the Opta supercomputer as the Reds are still backed as favourites, taking all three points in 61.1% of the 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Glasner’s side, meanwhile, came out on top just 18.2% of the time, with a draw accounting for the remaining 20.7% of the simulations.
Liverpool vs Nottingham Predicted Lineups
Liverpool: Alisson, Jeremie Frimpong, Jérémy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Rio Ngumoha, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak.
Head coach: Andoni Iraola
Nottingham Forest: Matz Sels, Jair Cunha, Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo, Ola Aina, James McAtee, Ibrahim Sangaré, Luca Netz, Dan Ndoye, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus.
Head coach: Oliver Glasner
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 15,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world, and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off on Saturday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
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