Former Chelsea and Celtic star makes ‘confidence’ claim ahead of Nottingham Forest v Liverpool

Liverpool are looking to round off a progressive week when they visit Nottingham Forest for a Premier League fixture for the first time since April 1999 on Saturday lunchtime.

Jurgen Klopp’s men will hope to claim all three points for the third consecutive game after seeing off Manchester City and West Ham United earlier this week to move to within striking distance of the top four.  The Reds will no doubt be in confident mood as they return to the scene of a 1-0 FA Cup quarter-final win earlier this year.

The former Borussia Dortmund manager has already spoken of the threat posed by Steve Cooper’s side, despite the fact they will head into the game sat at the foot of the Premier League table with just one win and six points from their opening 11 games of the campaign.

One former Premier League title winner believes Klopp is right to be wary of the challenge that lies in wait - but insisted he still expects Liverpool to claim a win at the City Ground.

Writing in his Premier League predictions column on the BBC Sport website, former Chelsea and Celtic striker Chris Sutton said: “Nottingham Forest only lost narrowly to Liverpool in last season’s FA Cup but they obviously have a completely different team now, and they are struggling.

“Forest held out for a point at Brighton on Tuesday and got a clean sheet, which might give them a bit of confidence, but they offered very little in front of goal. They need to get the balance right between defence and attack and they badly need a victory, but it is hard to see them managing any of that against Liverpool. The Reds were far from great themselves against West Ham in midweek but, even if they are not at their best, I’d still expect them to win.”