Liverpool head coach Arne Slot spoke to the press ahead of his side’s much-anticipated trip to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, and the Dutchman had bad news about Joe Gomez’s return to fitness:
“[Gomez is] quite far [from fitness].
“He’s definitely not training with the team yet. And Darwin is suspended. Those are the two we will miss tomorrow.”
With no return in sight for Gomez, who felt a muscle injury last month against West Ham United, Liverpool remain fairly thin in the ranks at the center of defense.
Other than Núñez’s suspension and Gomez’s injury, however, Slot reported no new injury concerns — though of course it’s uncertain just how affected the Liverpool camp were by the illness that kept Dominic Szoboszlai out of the side for a brief period (Jarell Quansah was taken off with what seemed to be illness-related issues in his last start for the club).
In terms of Nottingham Forest, Slot presumes a change in the line-up versus the last meeting between the two clubs:
“I watched it back because I wanted to see what we did back then in terms of tactics and what we could do now. I assume, but I’m not sure of course because I don’t make the line-up for Forest, but back then it was already a surprise for us that [Callum] Hudson-Odoi and [Anthony] Elanga weren’t playing.
“But they are playing so well now that it would again be a surprise to me if they don’t start now. Back then, they didn’t start and they played more with midfielders in these positions.
“So, we have to wait and see. We are prepared for both, of course. But that we have to do better than that game, that is clear. And they have still a similar playing style, like we still have the similar playing style. So we have to look into the details [for] what we can do better than that game.”
Both Hudson-Odoi and Elanga will be targeting the spaces in the channels behind the Liverpool fullbacks, a counter-attacking approach that has drawn blood against the Reds in the past. Liverpool will have to come prepared for challenges in these and other areas, as Forest look to do the double against a strong Liverpool side.