Nottingham Forest Seek Historic Win at Anfield
Nottingham Forest head to Anfield chasing a slice of history: a first-ever hat-trick of league wins at Liverpool’s home. And they arrive just as the new Liverpool era is still working out exactly what it is.
Iraola’s Liverpool still wide open
Andoni Iraola’s Premier League debut in the Liverpool dugout finished with late drama and a point at St James’ Park, but the 2-2 draw with Newcastle also ripped the curtain back on his team’s soft underbelly.
Liverpool had the ball, and plenty of it. They enjoyed 61% possession and racked up 27 shots to Newcastle’s 13. On paper, that looks dominant. On the pitch, it looked fragile.
Whenever Newcastle broke, Liverpool’s structure crumbled. The hosts sliced through them with direct, rapid counters that exposed a side still adjusting to a new manager, a new shape, and a new way of defending big spaces.
Anthony Elanga’s opener told the story in fast-forward. Newcastle won the ball in their own box and, 10 seconds later, Elanga had punished Liverpool. The second goal was just as brutal: Malick Thiaw snapped into a challenge, won possession, and 12 seconds later Joe Willock was sliding the ball past Alisson with authority.
Those two moments didn’t just cost points; they added to an uncomfortable statistic. Since the start of last season, Liverpool have conceded nine goals from fast breaks in all competitions – more than any other Premier League side. For a club that built an era on suffocating counter-pressing, that number stings.
Now Iraola walks out at Anfield for his first competitive home game, tasked with protecting a record that stretches back more than two decades. Liverpool have not lost their opening league fixture of a season at Anfield since 2003, a run of 17 wins and five draws from 22 such matches.
That streak, though, comes under serious examination from a Nottingham Forest team that have turned Anfield into an unlikely hunting ground.
Forest’s Anfield habit
For more than half a century, Forest had nothing to show from trips to Anfield. No wins in any competition since 1969. Then, almost out of nowhere, the dam burst.
They snatched a 1-0 victory there in September 2024, then returned in November and dismantled Liverpool 3-0. Same venue, same opponent, very different Forest from the side that once feared this fixture.
Since their return to the top flight in 2022, no team has beaten Liverpool more often in the league than Forest. They have three wins over the Reds in that period – a remarkable statistic for a club that has spent much of that time looking over its shoulder at the relegation zone.
They will not be overawed by the Kop or the occasion. If anything, recent history gives them reason to believe they can inflict more damage on a Liverpool side still ironing out the wrinkles of a new regime.
Glasner’s reality check and the Delap gamble
Like Iraola, Oliver Glasner is still in the early days of his project. Forest are learning his demands, his system, his standards. The early signs have been mixed.
Leeds United, under Daniel Farke, handed Forest a harsh double lesson, dishing out back-to-back defeats in the space of four days without conceding a goal. Forest failed to score in either game, and the mood around the club dipped.
Glasner did not sugar-coat it after Tuesday’s League Cup exit.
"The reality is, and I think everybody has to understand and accept, nine months of relegation battle, losing maybe your top midfielder (Elliot Anderson), and now we're six weeks together," the former Palace boss said. "The reality is no magician, no Messiah, it's just hard work. This is what we have to do."
It was a blunt message: there are no shortcuts here.
That honesty reflects a summer that, by Forest’s recent standards, has been subdued. The churn of signings slowed. For their league opener last Saturday, Glasner named a starting XI without a single new arrival. Continuity over chaos, at least for now.
But one big move has landed – and it could change the mood. Club-record signing Liam Delap has arrived for £50m, a statement fee for a striker who badly needs to relaunch his career. His time at Stamford Bridge brought just one goal in 28 league appearances, a frustrating spell that never really caught fire.
At Forest, he gets a fresh start and, potentially, a central role. For a team that has struggled for consistent goals from its centre-forward, Delap’s presence offers both hope and scrutiny. He will be desperate to justify the investment, and there are few better stages to announce yourself than Anfield.
Goals on the road, belief in the counter
If Forest need encouragement, they can find it in their recent away form. They have scored in each of their last 10 Premier League away games – the longest active run in the division. The goals have flowed particularly freely in their last five on the road, with 15 scored in that stretch alone.
That record collides head-on with Liverpool’s vulnerability to fast breaks. A Forest side that is comfortable springing forward, against a Liverpool team that has struggled to shut those transitions down.
Anfield will expect Iraola’s Liverpool to impose themselves, to dominate the ball again, to look like the protagonists. Forest will not mind that one bit. They have already shown they can win here by soaking up pressure and striking with precision.
Liverpool’s proud opening-day home record, Forest’s new-found swagger on Merseyside, Iraola’s teething problems, Glasner’s realism, Delap’s reboot – it all converges on one question.
Who bends first: Liverpool’s defence, or Forest’s belief that Anfield now belongs to them?
