Nottingham Forest Aim for First Points at Anfield

Nottingham Forest head to Anfield on Saturday still chasing their first points of the new Premier League season, but with one important reminder tucked in their back pocket – they’ve won on each of their last two visits to this ground.

The start to the campaign has been bruising. Defeat to Leeds United on the opening weekend was followed by another loss in the Carabao Cup just days later, leaving Oliver Glasner’s side hunting for a spark rather than riding any early momentum. Anfield is a harsh place to go looking for it, yet Forest arrive knowing this stadium has treated them kindly in recent times.

Forest’s selection picture

Glasner’s options are clearer than his league position. Nicolo Savona and Ryan Yates remain out through injury and will play no part, but there were positives in midweek as two of the club’s summer signings stepped into the spotlight.

Ousmane Diomande and Xaver Schlager both made their full debuts in the Carabao Cup tie and did enough to stay firmly in the frame for Anfield. Both are pushing hard to keep their places, and the head coach has no new fitness concerns from that game to complicate his thinking.

Glasner has been blunt about the scale of the rebuild at the City Ground. This is a squad being reshaped on the fly, a group still learning each other’s runs and instincts, set against a Liverpool side that has largely grown together over several seasons. That contrast hangs over the contest.

Shape, structure and a familiar threat

Forest are expected to stick with a back three, a structure that offers security against Liverpool’s attacking width while giving licence to their wing-backs to break forward.

Murillo, Nikola Milenković and Diomande are in line to form that defensive trio, with Matz Sels behind them. Ahead of them, a hard-working midfield four should feature Ola Aina and Neco Williams in the wide roles, with Ibrahim Sangaré and Schlager tasked with holding the centre and disrupting Liverpool’s rhythm.

The creative burden, as so often, will fall on Morgan Gibbs-White. He has either scored or assisted in half of Forest’s last six games at Anfield, a record that turns him into more than just a neat No.10 here – he is their proven weapon on this pitch. He is expected to operate just behind Igor Jesus, alongside Dan Ndoye, looking for pockets of space to punish any lapse.

Forest’s likely XI in a 3-4-2-1 reads: Sels; Murillo, Milenković, Diomande; Aina, Sangaré, Schlager, Williams; Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Igor Jesus.

It is a line-up that underlines Glasner’s intent: organised at the back, combative in midfield, and reliant on sharp transitions and the ingenuity of Gibbs-White to unsettle the home side.

Kick-off and coverage

The Premier League meeting at Anfield kicks off at 12:30 on Saturday, 29 August 2026.

In the UK, the game will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate.

Forest arrive wounded but not empty-handed. They bring scars from August, yes, but also a recent history of upsetting Anfield’s script. Which of those stories will define their season?