Chris Sutton has tipped Liverpool to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points with a win over Nottingham Forest tomorrow.
The Reds travel to the City Ground fresh off the back of their League Cup defeat of Chelsea at Wembley last week and Wednesday night’s 3-0 defeat of Southampton in the FA Cup.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have been boosted by the return of Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai to training and the duo are in contention to feature tomorrow.
Although Forest have improved in an attacking sense since Nuno Espirito Santo replaced Steve Cooper in December, the east Midlands-based outfit are just four points clear of the drop zone and Sutton thinks they’ll suffer yet another defeat this weekend.
“There’s been lots of praise for Liverpool’s young players this week, and rightly so after the way they played in the Carabao Cup final and then beat Southampton in the FA Cup,” Sutton told BBC Sport.
“It’s been an excellent week for Jurgen Klopp, with the first trophy of the season under his belt and then seeing his side keeping alive the possibility of winning four of them this season.
“It would get even better if the likes of Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo are fit enough to play in this game, and I feel like Liverpool are going to be hard to stop here.
“Forest were unlucky to go out of the FA Cup to Manchester United on Wednesday but they have got some work to do to get to safety in the league, especially with a possible points deduction looming, that could be announced next week.
“I keep hearing how Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are much-improved in an attacking sense. They may well have done, but it has not translated into results because they have only won once this year, and I don’t see them getting another one on Saturday.
“We are now into the run-in to the end of the season and Liverpool have already shown a great habit of finding a way to win games in recent weeks. They are riding on the crest of a wave at the moment so this one might be a bit more straightforward.
“Nottingham Forest 0-2 Liverpool.”
We suffered a 1-0 defeat in this same fixture last season in what was a proper lacklustre performance from Klopp’s side.
The return of Nunez and Szoboszlai seriously strengthens our squad and we’ll need to be at it right from the start to avoid Forest causing an upset tomorrow.
With Manchester City taking on Manchester United on Sunday and Arsenal travelling to Sheffield United on Monday night we have a great chance to extend our lead at the top to four points and put a bit of pressure on the sides below us.
Hopefully we can get the job done and keep up our positive momentum – even if the game does come too soon for Mo Salah.
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