Nottingham Forest vs. Liverpool Predictions: No easy passage for Klopp's men

The FA Cup really heats up this weekend as we enter the quarter-finals, and the juiciest tie of the lot takes place in Nottingham as Forest welcome Liverpool to the Midlands - live on ITV.

The City Ground has been a hotbed for cup upsets of late, with Premier League duo Arsenal and Leicester City both leaving empty handed in 2022.

Now they face their biggest test yet, as Jurgen Klopp’s League-Cup-winning, Premier League title-chasing, Champions League quarter-finalist Reds come to town.

As two of only four clubs to win the European cup (now Champions League) more than once these sides hold a bitter grudge against one another that harks back to the last 1970s, with Liverpool fans still signing about how much they hate Forest.

The Reds hated them because they were a nuisance, coming from the division below and immediately winning the league and finding success on the continent, stopping Bob Paisley’s side from dominating how they might have liked.

The Reds hated them because they were a nuisance, coming from the division below and immediately winning the league and finding success on the continent, stopping Bob Paisley’s side from dominating how they might have liked.

That was a long time ago though and the hosts haven’t seen the top division this millennium, though Steve Cooper has them feeling like they might again soon.

Rooted to the bottom of the table with a solitary point before Chris Hughton was given his marching orders, the Welshman has transformed a seemingly rotten side to mount a potential promotion push.

Sitting a single point outside the Championship play-offs, the hosts will be well up for this one and willl be letting themselves dream of glory days again.

If they’re to win the first competitive meeting between the sides in almost 23 years they’ll have to do it without both top scorer Lewis Grabban and veteran defender Steve Cook.

Fellow centre-back Scott McKenna could miss out after sustaining an injury against QPR in the week, whilst Jack Colback (12/5 for a card) could be on left wing-back duty in the absence of Max Lowe.

The aggressive midfielder has seen eight bookings and a red card in 27 Championship starts this term and coul

Liverpool’s crusade to win all four trophies available to them took another step in the right direction against Arsenal on Wednesday as they closed the gap to Manchester City to just a point and I expect them to take another big step here.

They’ve been in imperious form in 2022, and have won nine Premier League games in a row since a 2-2 draw at Chelsea in January.

Since that game they’ve won six consecutive away from home in all competitions (excluding the league cup final at a neutral Wembley), with five of those wins seeing less than four goals.

With Trent Alexander-Arnold ruled out and Mohamed Salah a doubt with a hamstring injury, I don’t expect the Reds to run away with this one - especially given Nottingham Forest’s impressive home record under Steve Cooper.

They’ve won eight of nine unbeaten games in 2022, including the aforementioned wins over Arsenal and Leicester, and should make life difficult for Liverpool here.

Garner has been in fantastic form of late, adding goals and assists to his game since the end of January.

The Manchester United loanee has scored twice and added five assists in his last 11 starts, including two in two FA Cup features, having contributed a single goal and assist in his first 24 appearances on the season.

With goal contributions has come cards though, and he’s seen five in that time (0.45 per game).

The England U21 international has been tenacious in the tackle in that run, committing 15 fouls, and was lucky to avoid a booking in a three-foul outing at Preston North End.

He was booked for bringing down James Maddison in their fourth round dismantling of Leicester City, and will likely have to contend with the silky footwork of Thiago Alcantara and Naby Keita in this one.

With an packed City Ground behind him, there’s a chance the loanee lets the occasion get to him against his parent club’s bitter rivals and 9/2 represents tidy value.

It’s also worth taking a small nibble on Garner to be carded and register an assist (0.1pts), which is 82/1 at William Hill and has copped twice in his last nine starts.

With five assists to his name over the last eleven games - including in each of the last two rounds of the FA Cup - he’s got the dead ball delivery to trouble Liverpool, especially if Virgil Van Dijk is rested.

2022 P/L: +2.15pt