Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo says his side will give Liverpool at the respect they deserve ahead of their visit to the City Ground.
The Reds are six points ahead of the Tricky Trees but could see that gap cut to three with a win at home against Arne Slot’s men.
Forest remain the only team to have beaten Liverpool in the Premier League this season, running out 1-0 winners at Anfield back in September.
Ahead of their second meeting of the campaign, Slot did not hesitate to label Nuno’s men as title challengers but the former Tottenham boss is choosing to ignore the noise and is focusing on one game at a time.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s clash, he said: “We have to play the games. We are here to compete against all of the teams and I think we are doing well, but nothing changes in our approach, which stays the same.
“We know what we can do and how we want to do things. We know each other, our strengths and weaknesses. So let’s play the game.
“I don’t know but we try as much as possible to ignore what’s around. We never change. It is the way we see things, the way we see the competition. I would say it is the way we see life. It’s day-by-day, focus on our tasks and tomorrow is another tough one.
🗣️ ‘We know that we can count on them.’
Nuno on your support ahead of tomorrow. ❤️
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 13, 2025
“Salah, Diaz, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Van Dijk, Konate, Trent…quality all over the place. A fantastic team. They have shown not only in the Premier League but in Europe how good they are. It is about us realising this and facing the game with the true respect it is necessary to play against Liverpool.”
Forest are proving to be the closest challenger to the title outside of the traditional top six since Leicester’s famous triumph in 2016.
While the Foxes went on to lift the trophy that season, there is no doubting that Nuno’s men face a tougher task with Liverpool and Arsenal breathing down their neck.
And when pushed on an answer for his aspirations this term, the Forest boss once again sidestepped the question.
He added: “It’s not about the game, it’s about the season and our strengths and our weaknesses. It’s about realising what we can do and what we are capable of doing and what we can do really well. That we have to repeat and then take care of the weakness that we have and things that we have to develop.
“But the basic principle of our approach is always the same. What we want to be is eventually one day we want to sit down and say now we are a solid, compact team that doesn’t give too much to our opponents, that is hard to break down and at the same time has quality on the ball and pace in attack.
“All of these things is the ideal. We are still chasing and working on that.
Looking ahead to Liverpool. 💪 pic.twitter.com/zTyFBwaUBi
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 13, 2025
“I see a group of players really committed to doing things well. What can happen in the future? I don’t know. The proof is that we did it before – we started the competition well.
“I think we are improving through the competition. I truly believe that the players, the more time that they spend together, the better they can play together then the more they grow in the knowledge of each other will increase and improve.
“I see a good group of people, more than players. A group of people that want to do things together. This is important – the bond, the togetherness, this is what I really value.”
