Salah on the Brink of History as Liverpool Face Forest at Anfield in a Fiery Premier League Showdown

Match context

Liverpool will host Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening in a clash rich with historical and tactical twists, arriving at a sensitive moment for both clubs, in the 12th round of the Premier League.

Between Liverpool's attempts to climb out of a run of negative results and Forest's rebound under Sean Dyche, the match looks open to all outcomes, but the numbers reveal intriguing insights ahead of kickoff.

History and milestones

Liverpool, under manager Arne Slot, return to face an opponent that caused one of last season's big shocks when they beat them 1-0 at Anfield; it was the only game where the Reds failed to score all season, a defeat that's still vivid in fans' memories and adds tension to Saturday's fixture.

Notably, Liverpool have not lost twice in a row at home to Nottingham Forest since 1963, making a Forest win at Anfield a historic event if it happens.

Last season's fixtures were unusual too, with Forest winning away 1-0 and drawing 1-1 in the return. The team aims to continue that positive pattern against one of England's giants, but the numbers show Forest haven't won three straight against Liverpool since February 1993.

Nottingham Forest carry a poor away record against the league champions: they have lost the last six away games against the titleholders with a combined score of 24-2.

The last time Forest managed a league win at Anfield was December 1994, when they beat Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Even though Liverpool has seen a wobble, losing five of their last six league games, at home the picture is different: they have won four of their last five matches at Anfield this season, losing only one.

If we go back to the start of last season, Liverpool had lost only one of their last 22 home games (17 wins, 4 draws), the loss coming to Nottingham Forest in September 2024.

So Saturday's game sees Liverpool come in with confidence rooted in Anfield's resilience, despite dropping to eighth place, their lowest position this early in a season since 2023.

One of the harshest realities for the Reds is that they have lost six games in this slump, more than they lost all of last season when they won the league (five losses so far this season versus four last season).

Paradoxically, prior to this run, they had lost only five of 49 league games (33 wins, 11 draws), reflecting the scale of the current dip.

Since Sean Dyche arrived, Forest has shown a different attacking and organizational edge; the team has scored five goals in three games under him, equal to the total under Nuno Santo and Ange Postecoglou combined over the first eight fixtures (four and one respectively).

Also, the attacking metrics have risen, with shots per game up to 13 and expected goals per game up to 1.6, signaling real progress relative to the season opening.

Moreover, Salah could reach his 300th Premier League appearance for Liverpool, becoming the fifth player to reach this milestone for the club after Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, and Sami Hyypia.

Salah also has 276 contributions (188 goals, 88 assists), tying the club's single-player record for Premier League contributions with Wayne Rooney.

In Forest, Morgan Gibbs-White stands out as a key weapon; he has scored in each of the last two games and could make it three in a row.

If Gibbs-White scores again, he would become Forest's fourth player to reach 20 Premier League goals for the club, following Chris Wood, Bryan Roy, and Stan Collyimore.

With such a tale of two sides, expectations are high for a pulsating showdown.
Punchline 1: If Liverpool places a sniper on the goal line, Forest will still need to bring the popcorn because this one might be a thriller.
Punchline 2: My fantasy team just texted me asking if this match has a trophy; I told it this is where the points actually come from, not from the trophy cabinet.