Liverpool hand full debut to Victor Munoz as Forest arrive at Anfield with a score to settle
Liverpool face Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Saturday 29 August 2026, kick-off 12.30pm BST, with both sides looking for their first statement result of the new Premier League season (The Guardian).
Arne Slot made two changes to the side that drew 2-2 at Newcastle United. Alexis Mac Allister returned in midfield in place of Ryan Gravenberch, and Victor Munoz made his full debut on the right wing, stepping in for Rio Ngumoha. Cody Gakpo, the subject of a reported £70m bid from Tottenham, kept his place in the starting eleven.
Munoz's debut is the kind of detail that gives an early-season fixture its texture. A young winger running out at Anfield for the first time, with the Premier League's Saturday lunchtime slot as his stage.
Nottingham Forest arrived for their first away match of the 2026/27 campaign with one change from the side that lost 1-0 to Leeds United on the opening day. Xaver Schlager came into midfield for the injured Ibrahim Sangaré. Liam Delap, Forest's new £50m signing from Chelsea, started on the bench.
Liverpool's confirmed lineup: Alisson; Frimpong, van Dijk, Jacquet, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Munoz, Isak, Gakpo. Forest's confirmed lineup: Sels; Cunha, Milenkovic, Murillo, Aina; McAtee, Schlager, Williams; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Jesus.
The recent history between these two at Anfield gives Forest genuine reason to travel with belief. They won 1-0 on the counter-attack in September 2024, Callum Hudson-Odoi scoring the winner, and returned in November 2025 to win 3-0. Before those two results, Liverpool had lost just once in 30 home league meetings with Forest — 24 wins, five draws — making this, statistically at least, their bogey fixture (Nottingham Forest FC).
Forest's last visit, though, went Liverpool's way. Mac Allister struck deep into stoppage time on 22 February 2026 to snatch a 1-0 win at the City Ground, a result described at the time as scarcely deserved (Reuters).
Both managers arrived at this fixture under pressure of different kinds. Slot won 18 of his first 20 matches as Liverpool manager before a punishing run of nine defeats in 12 games reshaped the narrative around his tenure. Forest, under new management, had lost back-to-back matches to Leeds United in both league and cup before travelling to Anfield.
That Forest were beaten twice by a newly promoted Leeds side before this trip tells its own story about an awkward start. The Oliver Glasner connection adds a layer of intrigue: during his time at Crystal Palace, Glasner's record against Liverpool read P7 W4 D1 — a remarkable return against one of the division's heavyweight clubs.
For Liverpool, the task is straightforward. Turn the Anfield atmosphere into territory and chances, and reverse a home record against Forest that has, by recent standards, gone badly wrong. For Forest, the plan is equally clear: stay compact, absorb, and strike on the break — the formula that has served them so well on this ground.
