In some ways, the game against Accrington Stanley was exactly what Liverpool needed. Having drawn with a, frankly, poor Manchester United side, the Reds then lost to a Tottenham Hotspur team that they had hit six past a week or so before. Yes, the two sets of players were largely different, but there was a definite risk of both supporters and some players fearing that we had hit a bit of a slump. With that in mind, facing a team three divisions below you is exactly what was needed. Accrington also played in a manner that will be similar to how a lot of the teams we will face in the remained of the Premier League campaign are likely to setup, sitting deep and being unwilling to try to press for fear of being turned over. To get a 4-0 win under our belts will, therefore, have been just what the doctor ordered. Add in minutes in the legs of the players that needed them, an assist and general good performance from Darwin Núñez (despite what some weirdos might want to tell you) and the emergence of Federico Chiesa is an excellent afternoon out.
❤️ We will remember the 97. pic.twitter.com/jQYer9lV50
— Accrington Stanley (@ASFCofficial) January 10, 2025
Having said that, the reality is that Accrington are currently in 19th in League Two, just five players outside the relegation zone. It wasn’t exactly a match that Arne Slot will be able to take a huge amount from, apart from how well some players are or aren’t adapting to how he wants to play. The criticism of Núñez was as boring as it was predictable. It is evident to anyone who want to see it that Slot’s system is designed to get the best out of the wide players, which is why both Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo appear to be thriving this season whilst all of Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota and Núñez himself have struggled to make an impact when playing as the nine. No, Darwin doesn’t score enough goals. Yet I think we function much better as an attacking unit when he plays and might well have caused United more problems if we’d played him, for example, rather than Díaz in the nine. Sadly, too many people simply dislike him and won’t have their opinion changed on the matter, suggesting that no goal against League Two opponents is ‘proof’ he isn’t good enough. It feels as though his days are numbered.
Forest are the Only League Opposition We’ve Lost To
If you’ve watched any of the manager’s press conferences then you will be under no illusions whatsoever about how he feels about Nottingham Forest. Slot has used any and every chance he’s had to mention the loss to the East Midlands club, if for no other reason than it was the only match that he lost during the calendar year of 2024. Although the defeat to Spurs was frustrating, it is still only half-time in that game and the second-leg is at Anfield, so I remain confident that we will prevail at the start of next month. Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, have put a blot on our copy book that is, given the fact that the game was played at home, pretty unforgivable. Certainly the manager is not willing to let it go any time soon, so you would imagine that he will have the players entirely aware of what the challenge is that will confront them at the City Ground tomorrow night. Liverpool haven’t had a better chance to win the Premier League title since the year that we actually did, but if we’re to do so then we need to give no one else any hope.
Pretty sure Slot will want ro right the wrongs from the 1st Forest match. Totally different this time as we had international games prior to it. Boys will have to work hard for the 3pts but with key players rested at wknd & the injured ones managed very well to be back fully fit I’m going 0-2👍🏼 #LFC
— Gazzzaaa 🔴🏴 (@swanythared.bsky.social) 13 January 2025 at 10:31
Forest will be one of the more challenging games that we have to take part in between now and the end of the season. Sometimes a team’s strengths match up with your weaknesses and that is what it feels like when it comes to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. Slot has declared that they are very much in the title race, so it would be ideal to smack them out of it on their own turf. Whilst we have a game-in-hand on both them and Arsenal, that is against Everton at Goodison Park and they have just replaced Sean Dyche with David Moyes, so are likely to provide a stern test. Lose tomorrow night and we will be only three points in front of Forest and probably the same distance from the Gunners. Win, however, and it will be another big game ticked off the list, removing an opportunity for them to have a direct impact on our season. It will also show that we are able to cope with a side that has obviously made an impact on us, to say nothing of the fact that they are arguably the best of the best in the Premier League when it comes to playing in that defensive manner.
We Can Extinguish All Hope
I remain unconvinced that Arsenal have the ability to go on the sort of run that would allow them to challenge us, given that they need to be practically perfect between now and the end of the season, as well as hoping that we will slip up several times. If we can get a win on the board then we will move nine points clear of Arsenal before the North London Derby, all but extinguishing their hope of being able to catch us. Lose, of course, and the reverse is true. Suddenly they’re up against a Tottenham Hotspur side that struggled to win against lower league opposition and can move within three points of us with a victory. That is the sort of thing that can galvanise a team that is hoping to challenge for the top prize in the country. It will also have some Forest fans believing that they could ‘do a Leicester’, given they are on the same number of points as the Foxes were at this point in the 2015-2016 campaign. There are sterner tests to come, of course. We have to travel to play 115 Charges FC in the not too distant future and they seem to have rediscovered a modicum of form at exactly the wrong time for us.
Arne Slot says Nottingham Forest are title contenders this season ahead of Liverpool’s visit to the City Ground on Tuesday night. #BBCFootball #NFOLIV pic.twitter.com/BxkC1ZPHqa
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January 13, 2025
Brentford away is never easy and two games against Everton won’t be fun for anyone. In other words, there are plenty of opportunities for us to slip up before the big silver thing is going to be lifted, so winning the games that you should win is crucial. Although Forest have had an excellent season so far, including being the only team to have a Premier League win against us under their belt, they remain a team that we should beat. If we can do so then it will ensure a surge of belief will run through the squad whilst also firing a warning shot across the bow of the rest of the top-flight. It will also confirm that we are out of any minor ‘slump’ that we might have been in in a way that defeating Accrington Stanley can’t quite do. A defeat would not only confirm out worst fears, but it would also point to a group of players who have stopped listening to the manager quite so eagerly, given the fact that there is no way he won’t have them geared up for this one. I genuinely believe that this could be a make or break moment in the season.