Nottingham Forest's Challenge at Anfield: Can They Upset Liverpool Again?
Nottingham Forest head to Anfield on Saturday with the table already frowning at them and the fixture list offering no sympathy.
Two games played, two defeats: one in the Premier League at Leeds United, another in the Carabao Cup days later. No points, no momentum. Now comes Liverpool away at 12:30 on Saturday, 29 August 2026.
And yet, there is a sliver of encouragement. Forest have won on each of their last two visits to Anfield. For a squad still being knitted together under Oliver Glasner, that recent history is more than a footnote. It is something to cling to.
Forest’s rebuilding job
Glasner has never hidden the size of the task at the City Ground. He is reshaping a squad while trying to compete with teams that have moved in lockstep for years. His message has been clear: this is a rebuild, but the early signs of cohesion are there.
The injury list has at least not grown this week. Nicolo Savona and Ryan Yates remain out and unavailable, yet the midweek cup tie did not add any new concerns. That alone counts as a small win in a demanding start to the season.
Two of the summer signings used that Carabao Cup defeat as a personal launchpad. Ousmane Diomande and Xaver Schlager both made their full debuts and did enough to force their way into the conversation for Anfield. They are not just options; they are pushing hard to keep their places.
Shape and key figures
The structure looks set. Murillo, Nikola Milenković and Diomande are expected to anchor a back three, a physically imposing unit charged with withstanding long spells without the ball. In front of them, a busy midfield four should provide both cover and outlets: Ola Aina and Neco Williams patrolling the flanks, Ibrahim Sangaré and Schlager patrolling the centre.
Higher up the pitch, Morgan Gibbs-White again carries a heavy creative burden. He has either scored or assisted in half of Forest’s last six games at Anfield, a record that underlines how often he finds a way to influence this particular fixture. He is likely to operate just behind Igor Jesus, with Dan Ndoye offering legs and direct running alongside him.
This is how Forest are expected to line up in a 3-4-2-1:
Sels; Murillo, Milenković, Diomande; Aina, Sangaré, Schlager, Williams; Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Igor Jesus.
It is a side that blends new arrivals with familiar faces, a team still learning each other’s habits but already asked to withstand one of the toughest away days in the division.
Stage, time, and stakes
The setting needs no embellishment. Anfield, lunchtime kick-off, live on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate in the UK. The kind of slot where early-season stories start to harden into themes.
For Liverpool, it is a chance to assert control at home. For Forest, it is something else entirely: a test of resilience, of belief in a project that has yet to be rewarded on the scoreboard.
They have walked into Anfield and won on their last two visits. Do they dare believe they can do it again with a new-look side and no points on the board? The answer will say plenty about how quickly Glasner’s rebuild can turn from theory into results.
