Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo says his side will give Liverpool the respect they deserve ahead of their visit to the City Ground.
The Reds are six points clear of the Tricky Trees but could see that gap cut to three with a home win against Arne Slot’s men.
Forest remain the only side to beat Liverpool in the Premier League this season, winning 1-0 at Anfield in September.
Ahead of the second meeting of the campaign, Slot did not hesitate to label Nuno’s men as title contenders, but the former Tottenham boss is choosing to ignore the noise and focus 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 with all the teams and I think we are doing well, but nothing changes in our approach, which remains 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 us. We never change. It’s the way we see things, the way we see competition. I would say it’s the way we see life. It’s day by day, we focus on our tasks and tomorrow is another difficult one.
🗣️ ‘We know we can count on them.’
Nuno for your support ahead of tomorrow. ❤️
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 13, 2025
“Salah, Diaz, Gakpo, McAllister, Gravenberg, Van Dijk, Konate, Trent… quality everywhere. Fantastic team. They have shown not only in the Premier League but also in Europe how good they are. It’s about realizing that and treating the game with the real respect that is necessary to play against Liverpool.”
Forest are proving to be the closest title challengers outside the traditional top six since Leicester’s famous 2016 triumph.
While the Foxes went on to lift the trophy that season, there is no doubt that Nuno’s men face a tougher task with Liverpool and Arsenal breathing down their necks.
And when pushed for an answer about his ambitions this term, the Forest boss once again sidestepped the question.
He added: “It’s not the game, it’s the season and our strengths and weaknesses. It’s about realizing what we can do and what we can do and what we can do really well. That we need to repeat and then take care of the weakness we have and things we need to develop.
“But the basic principle of our approach is always the same. What we want to be is finally one day we want to sit down and say now that we are a solid, solid team that doesn’t give our opponents too much, that is hard to break down and at the same time has quality on the ball and pace in attack.
“All these things are the ideal. We are still chasing it and working on it.
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’ve done it before – we’ve had a good start to the competition.
“I think we improve through competition. I truly believe that players, the more time they spend together, the better they can play together, then the more they will grow to know each other and improve.
“I see a good group of people, more than players. A group of people who want to do things together. That’s important – the bond, the camaraderie, that’s what I really value.”
