Liverpool FC statusFrånvaroläge: Alexander-Arnold(skadad), Salah(lätt skadad, osäker), Milner(sjuk, osäker) Trolig startelva (4-3-3): Alisson Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas – Henderson, Keita, Jones- Jota, Firmino, Minamino
Tankar om elvan: Som vanligt när vankas cupmatch är det svårt att sia om hur startelvan ska se ut, nu är det ändå kvartsfinal, så vi borde få se en ganska stark elva kliva ut på planen. Klopp sade redan på presskonferensen att Alisson kommer att vakta målet, den positionen är med andra ord ganska lätt att förutse. I backlinjen behöver någon kliva in för Alexander-Arnold, vem det blir hänger lite om Milner är frisk eller inte. Min gissning är att han inte är redo att starta och då får i stället Gomez kliva in där, medan Konate tar Matips plats i mitten. Till vänster behöver Robertson hämta andan lite, samtidigt som Tsimikas behöver få speltid. På mitten finns det, som vanligt, mängder av alternativ. Jag hoppas Fabinho får vila, den som är bäst lämpad att ta hans plats är Henderson. Vi ska inte spela Thiago här, han behöver sina vilodagar, i stället vill jag ha in Keita på mitten. Jones, Elliot eller Oxlade kommer att ta den tredje platsen, på sistone är det Jones som spelat mest av dem, så jag chansar på att han får även den här matchen. I anfallet finns det också många möjliga lösningar, men varken Jota eller Firmino spelade nittio minuter senast, så de borde ha goda chanser att få starta här. Tredje platsen där framme ger jag till Minamino, han har gjort sig förtjänt av en chans och både Diaz och Mané skulle må bra av vila.
Nottingham status – Mr Dore(@MrDore_), driver youtubekanalen Dore on tour och Rich Ferraro som har podcasten 1865: The Nottingham Forest Podcast och hemsidan eighteensixtyfive.football 1. Forest is a very popular team in Sweden and have many fans from the 70s-80s, but now you have been away from Premier League since the late 90s. How is Forest doing today? Mr D: Forest are playing best football under Steve Cooper in years, after Chris Hughton got sacked after a horrible started of the season. Steve Cooper has change everything from the way on the pitch to the connection with the fans. Its been fantastic to watch. RF: Forest have had a terrible time since the late 1990s. They were relegated from the Premier League in 1999 and have been out of the top division ever since. They even spent three years in Division 3, and in 2012 they almost went out of business. There have been a succession of managers but Forest haven’t come close to promotion to the Premier League for many years. This season feels so exciting – even if Forest don’t get promoted, it has been really enjoyable. 2. Who is managing Forest and How do you describe the way you play? Mr D: Steve Cooper is the Nottingham Forest manager. Attacking football but likes to have a mean defence like 3 at that back. Fast Football with a young side going forward. RF: Steve Cooper took over as manager after 7 games of this season, and has revolutionised the way the team play, the mentality and the physical fitness levels. The style of play is solid, but also fluid and exciting, and with players like Spence, Johnson, Davis and Surridge we have pace and power when attacking. 3. Which players are most important to your team? Mr D: Djed Spence ( on loan from Middlesbrough) or Brennan Johnson has been the best players at Forest. Spence arrived from Boro with a bad reputation from Boro but come to Nottingham Forest as 1 of the best loan players Forest have witness. Brennan Johnson is a young talent who’s keeps getting better each game & scoring important goals for Forest RF: Forest’s style of play is built upon being solid at the back – unfortunately Scott McKenna and Steve Cook are currently injured. In attack, the pace and direct play of Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson will give Liverpool’s left back a hard time, and Keinan Davis is a really powerful, physical striker who must be a nightmare for any defenders. 4. Can you tell us a bit about your way to the quarter final? Mr D: Forest beat Arsenal 1-0 in the 3rd round at the city ground, beat another premiership side in Leicester city in convincing 4-1 win then we beat another Championship side in Huddersfield town who was unbeaten in 18 games. So its been a hard teams for us but convincing wins. RF: Forest’s route to the quarter final has not been easy. Our first match was against Arsenal, who had won the cup in 2020; then we had FA Cup holders Leicester. Forest completely outplayed two good Premier League teams, and comprehensively beat Leicester 4-1! Then a match against Championship Huddersfield, but that was not easy as Huddersfield had not lost for 14 matches and were the form team in the division. Forest have had home advantage throughout, but they have earned their place in the quarter finals. 5. Liverpool signed Stan Collymore from Forest in One of our biggest transfers of the 90s. How do you remember Collymore? Mr D: Stan Collymore Is one of the best strikers to wear the red shirt, arrived from Southend with no reputation at all but he’s debut was fantastic and that season in 03/04 was something to remember from Collymore before moving to Liverpool. RF: Collymore was, without doubt, one of the most exciting strikers ever to play for Forest. Strong, skilful and fast, he loved to shoot and scored 50 goals in 75 appearances for the Reds. It was inevitable that he would leave, but I think he admits that some of his best years were at the City Ground. 6. When will we see you back in Premier League? Mr D: We need to get into the Premier League ASAP because of financial reason..it’s been 23 years now since we’ve not been in the top tier now & this team deserve to be in the Premier League. RF: Next year? Honestly, it has been so exciting for the last six months, and we would love to get promoted, but it has just been great to enjoy watching an exciting young team with lots of Nottingham boys. If not this year, then we will lose some players, but for the first time in years, it feels like the club are moving in the right direction. 7. What kind of game do you expect against Liverpool? Mr D: Forest have got nothing to lose so it’s going to be attacking ,fast, no pressure, football from forest. Our form the season has been fantastic so Liverpool will be worried after Forest beat Arsenal and Leicester. RF: I am hoping that we will see lots of beautiful, quick, exciting passing football. Both teams have a particular way of playing and try not to resort to the dark arts. Forest have nothing to lose, so as long as we play well, most fans will be happy. Totaal reflektion: Vi är stora favoriter här, som sig bör när vi möter ett lag från divisionen under oss, men vi ska verkligen inte förvänta oss en enkel seger. Forest har slagit ut både Arsenal och Leicester på sin väg fram och kommer göra det väldigt svårt för oss. Det kommer att vara med några spelare i startelvan som inte spelat så mycket på sistone, de kommer inte att få något utrymme till mjukstart. Under Klopp behöver man sällan oroa sig över spelarnas inställning, så det tror jag inte kommer att vara någon fara här heller, med tanke på att Wembley hägrar bara två matcher bort borde spelarna vara taggade till tänderna. Gör vi en bra match tar vi oss vidare här, vi är trots allt i väldigt bra form och har imponerat i cuperna hittills den här säsongen, förhoppningsvis fortsätter det så.