CITY GROUND, NOTTINGHAM — Liverpool are the first of the Premier League title chasers in action this weekend when they travel to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest.
Manchester City host Manchester United in the derby at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, while Arsenal must wait until Monday for a visit to Sheffield United, meaning Jurgen Klopp’s team have the opportunity to put a marker down.
The Reds are on 60 points, with City and Arsenal on 59 and 58 respectively. All three have won 18 of 26 Premier League games this term.
It’s a different story for Forest. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team beat West Ham 2-0 in their previous home league game for a first three-point haul of 2024.
The Sporting News is following Nottingham Forest vs. Liverpool live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
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Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool live score
| 1st Half | Goalscorers | |
| Forest | — | |
| Liverpool | — |
Lineups:
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1, right to left): 26. Matz Sels (GK) — 7. Neco Williams, 32. Andrew Omobamidele, 40. Murillo, 15. Harry Toffolo — 22. Ryan Yates, 16. Nicolas Dominguez — 21. Anthony Elanga, 10. Morgan Gibbs-White, 14. Callum Hudson-Odoi — 27. Divock Origi.
Liverpool (formation, right to left): 62. Caoimhin Kelleher (GK) — 84. Conor Bradley, 5. Ibrahima Konate, 4. Virgin van Dijk, 26. Andy Robertson — 10. Alexis Mac Allister, 2. Joe Gomez, 42. Bobby Clark — 19. Harvey Elliott, 18. Cody Gakpo, 7. Luis Diaz.
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Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool live updates, highlights, and commentary
37th minute: That recent period of silliness has robbed Liverpool of the rhythm they were starting to build up and they’re now playing the game on Forest’s terms, which Klopp will want to nip in the bud. Throughball from Hudson-Odoi and no need for a late flag this time. Elanga was halfway to Meadow Lane.
32nd minute: Gomez tries to play a one-two with Robertson but ends up being late on Dominguez. This seems to have spun entirely out of Tierney’s control and wouldn’t have if he’d just given the first fairly obvious foul. Not as obvious as all the ones that have followed it, admittedly. Elanga is offside from the free-kick, in the latest example of no one really engaging their brain too much over the past couple of minutes.
31st minute: Toffolo sees how far Tierney is willing to let things go. Not that far, as he boots Bradley up in the air. All getting a but silly.
30th minute: Diaz fashions some space then darts onto a return ball. That’s lovely play but his finish is lacking as he drags out for a throw. The locals let Tierney know that they think Gibbs-White probably might have been fouled.
29th minute: Coo as you like from Van Dijk, who heads back to Kelleher under pressure on the edge of his six yard box. A contrasting approach from the other Liverpool centre-back as Konate clatters through Gibbs-White. Paul Tierney waves play-on.
27th minute: Better chance for Clark here as he gets on the end of an inviting cutback.Omobamidele makes the block then a combination of his central defensive colleague Murillo and Sels hurl themselves at Diaz to prevent the Colombia international from doing anything meaningful with the rebound. it’s heroic stuff, but feels like Forest are living a little bit on their wits here.
24th minute: Klopp definitely though that was offside. He’s in prolonged conversation with the fourth official. Rules are rules, Jurgen. The visitors go up the other end and Clark thrashes over from outside the box.
23rd minute: Elanga clean through. Is he offside? Surely he has to put it in the net. No! Kelleher saves a fairly tame effort with his leg. No offside. Wowzers.
20th minute: A touch of confusion in the Forest box as Robertson whips in a devilish ball. Sels looks poised to collect it but Murillo smashes it away from his hands. A short goal kick then gets the hosts into trouble abd Sels puts a clearance into orbit.
18th minute: Diaz fizzed a shot from the edge of the box that’s deflected into the side-netting. The ripple convinced a few Liverpool fans at the other end of the stadium that it was a goal. Much mirth ensues and the corner comes to nought.
15th minute: Oh, hang on. He’s lulling them into a false sense of security. Origi drives towards goal and lets fly from 25 yards. The ball flashes just past Kelleher’s left-hand post and it was travelling. I’m not sure the Liverpool goalkeeper would have got anywhere near that had it been on target.
7th minute: Origi take a touch and plonks a simple five-yard pass out of play. That’ll learn ’em.
6th minute: Yates shoves Clark over. Very much a “welcome to the big football, youngster” challenge. But it’s a daft one as Liverpool have a free-kick in a half-decent position. Robertson’s ball in his cleared. He has another go and the offside flag goes up.
4th minute: Nice, sustained period of Liverpool pressure. Gakpo is crowded out on the end of the box and Elanga has a chance to break. He doesn’t especially make the most of it.
2nd minute: Liverpool get the corner away but Van Dijk has taken a clout on the head going up for a header with Yates. Looks like he’s fine. Tis’ but a scratch.
1st minute: We’re off and Forest are straight on the attack. Origi runs the channel and wins a corner off his old buddy Van Dijk.
4 mins before kickoff: Here come the teams to the strains of “Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns ‘N’ Roses, the old ringwalk song of one of Nottingham’s favourite sons Carl Froch. The Premier League anthem is not a seamless mix to drop after that. My thoughts with the stadium DJ. Regardless, the atmosphere is lively as you’d expect.
15 mins before kickoff: The warms-ups are finished and the teams are making their final preparations. It feels like a big day for Caoimhin Kelleher. The Irishman has been a reliable deputy for Alisson but Klopp’s admission that the Brazil international’s hamstring injury is “rather serious” and that he faces a significant period on the sidelines changes the equation. If Liverpool are to win the Premier League this season, Kelleher knows he will have to be a huge part of it.
40 mins before kickoff: Origi enjoys genuine cult status at Liverpool. He is intertwined with some of the most memorable moments of the Klopp era — a last-gasp derby winner against Everton in front of the Kop, the magical comeback against Barcelona and a Champions League-sealing goal in the 2019 final against Tottenham. His time at Forest has been miserable so far. An assist in the 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa last time out was Origi’s first goal involvement in 12 Premier League outings for the club. Today will be just his third top-flight start. You could say the next narrative flourish of the title race is already deliciously mapped out.
55 mins before kickoff: And this is how Forest line up, with former Liverpool supersub Divock Origi starting against his former club.
Your Reds to face @LFC ❤️
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) March 2, 2024
1 hour before kickoff: The teams are in. Endo, Nunez and Szoboszlai all back in the Liverpool matchday squad but all on the bench. Youngsters Clark and Bradley start once more.
Team news is in 👊 #NFOLIV
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 2, 2024
1 hr 20 mins before kickoff: Before Forest fans get too carried away about having the weight of history on their side, Nuno Espirito Santo has faced Liverpool six times in his Premier League career and lost every time. So there’ll be a streak ended and a streak continued today, one way or the other. Also, expect goals. Forest have scored in each of Nuno’s nine Premier League games at the helm but have not kept a clean sheet since Steve Cooper’s departure.
1 hr 40 mins before kickoff: Liverpool with a trophy for safekeeping already, on form and on a mission on Klopp’s farewell tour, and with the title in their nostrils. Straightforward away win then? Well, perhaps, but strange things happen in this fixture on this ground. Remarkably, you have to go back to 1984 for the last time Liverpool claimed three points at the City Ground. In the 13 league meetings since then, they have drawn seven and lost six. In last season’s corresponding match-up, Taiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal to sink his former employers.
2 hours before kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of Nottingham Forest vs. Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s team are aiming to go four points clear at the top of the Premier League but still have a weighty injury list to contend with.
Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai may be available for #NFOLIV, but Mohamed Salah will not return from injury at the City Ground:
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 1, 2024
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool kick off time
This Premier League clash takes place at the City Ground in Nottingham, UK and kicks off on Saturday, March 2 at 3:00 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Sat, Mar. 2 | 10:00 a.m. ET |
| Canada | Sat, Mar. 2 | 10:00 p.m. ET |
| UK | Sat, Mar. 2 | 3:00 p.m. GMT |
| Australia | Sun, Mar. 3 | 2:00 a.m. AEDT |
| India | Sat, Mar. 2 | 8:30 p.m. IST |
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool lineups, team news
Nuno is still without four players through injury with Ola Aina and Willy Boly among those absent for the home side following their Africa Cup of Nations returns. Ibrahim Sangare returns to the bench
Divock Origi starts against his former club.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1, right to left): Sels (GK) — Williams, Omobamidele, Murillo, Toffolo — Yates, Dominguez — Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi — Origi.
Nottingham Forest subs (9): Turner (GK), Sangare, Kouyate, Awoniyi, Felipe, Niakhate, Danilo, Ribeiro, Gardner.
Klopp still has a host of players on the sidelines including Diogo Jota, Alisson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The reason for Klopp naming so many young players against Southampton was to protect returning stars. Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai resumed training on Thursday and Andy Robertson is back following a sickness bug. However, Mohamed Salah (hamstring) remains absent.
Liverpool (4-3-3 right to left): Kelleher (GK) — Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson — Mac Allister, Gomez, Clark — Elliott, Gakpo, Diaz.
Liverpool subs (9): Adrian (GK), Endo, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Tsimikas, McConnell, Koumas, Danns, Quansah.
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool live stream, TV channel
Here’s how to watch this Premier League match across selected areas of the world’s major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | — | Peacock |
| Canada | — |
Fubo Canada
|
| UK | — | — |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| India | — | JioTV, Hotstar |
USA: This game is available on the Peacock Network.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live-streaming exclusively via Fubo.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on-demand on Optus Sport.
UK: This game is not available via live broadcast due to the Saturday 3 p.m. embargo. BBC Radio 5 Live will provide radio commentary.
