Andoni Iraola's first home match sees Liverpool welcome Nottingham Forest to Anfield on Saturday lunchtime. Forest had not won at Anfield since before the Moon Landing, but have actually claimed victory away on Merseyside in both of the last two season.
As Iraola seeks to end that particular streak and claim his first three points as Liverpool head coach, this is the starting lineup he has selected.
Liverpool's confirmed lineup vs Nottingham Forest
- Alisson.
- Jeremie Frimpong, Jérémy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk & Miloš Kerkez.
- Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister & Florian Wirtz.
- Víctor Muñoz, Alexander Isak & Cody Gakpo.
- Substitutes: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Ronald Araújo, Kostas Tsimikas, Wataru Endō, Ryan Gravenberch, Trey Nyoni, James McConnell, Lewis Koumas & Rio Ngumoha.
Iraola makes two changes following last Sunday's frenetic 2-2 draw with Newcastle at St James' Park. Alexis Mac Allister comes into midfield, following a truncated midfield after his World Cup exploits with Argentina. Ryan Gravenberch, somewhat surprisingly, is the man to drop out.
Meantime, following an excellent cameo off the bench on Tyneside, new signing Víctor Muñoz starts for the first time, coming in for Rio Ngumoha. On the opposite flank, Cody Gakpo does start, despite reports from Fabrizio Romano that the Dutchman's future will be resolved "after today’s game with key meetings set to take place".
Nottingham Forest's confirmed lineup vs Liverpool
- Metz Sels
- Jair Cunha, Murillo & Nikola Milenković.
- Ola Aina, James McAtee, Xaver Schlager & Neco Williams
- Morgan Gibbs-White, Igor Jesus & Dan Ndoye
Oliver Glasner's first two matches in charge of Nottingham Forest have both produced home defeats at the hands of Leeds, 1-0 in the Premier League and 2-0 in the EFL Cup. He did deploy a strong lineup for the mid-week cup defeat, so the Tricky Trees could be a bit more fatigued than their hosts.
Forest's XI includes Neco Williams, who joined Liverpool as a six year old, departing a decade and a half later after making 33 senior appearances for the club.
Which Liverpool players are currently injured?
Joe Gomez remains sidelined due to a muscle injury suffered against Sunderland during a pre-season friendly in Tennessee. Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Hugo Ekitiké remain sidelined long-term. Meantime, Federico Chiesa misses out due to a "small muscle injury" suffered against Como in a pre season friendly a fortnight ago, with Iraola confirming this week "he felt something at the back".
Which Liverpool players could leave before the transfer window closes?
As was the case at St James' Park last Sunday, Harvey Elliott is not even named among the Liverpool substitutes. This has fuelled speculation that the Englishman will leave before the transfer window closes on Tuesday, with Valencia reportedly leading the race to sign him, amid interest from Serie A duo Napoli and Lazio.
Meantime, Stefan Bajčetić is expected to re-join former club Celta de Vigo, who is father Srđan also played for, while Cody Gakpo is the most high-profile player whose future remains in doubt. Manchester City and Tottenham remain interested, but Liverpool will only sell if they can bring in another attacking, following news that Bradley Barcola is on his way for £123 million.
What time does Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest kick off?
The Reds' home Premier League opener kicks off at 12:30pm local time in the United Kingdom. That makes it an early start for North America-based Reds, with kick off at 7:30am ET and 4:30am PT in the United States.
How can I watch Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest in the Premier League?
This Premier League fixture is live on USA Network in the United States, as well as on Telemundo in Spanish. In the UK, you can watch it on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max, while the game is being broadcast by Fubo Sports Network in Canada, Stan Sport in Australia and SuperSport MaXimo 1 across Africa.
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