Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has talked up Nottingham Forest's Premier League title chances ahead of the teams' huge clash at the City Ground on Tuesday.

Forest are third in the Premier League, behind second-placed Arsenal on goal difference and six points adrift of leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand on their rivals.

"I have always said you can judge the table best halfway through the season. They are up there with the rest so they are definitely a team in competition with us and the others," Slot said at his pre-match press conference.

"If you look at the way they play and their results, then it is deserved. It is going to be a very difficult challenge for us to get a result."

Forest are the only team to have beaten Liverpool in the league this season, having won 1-0 at Anfield in September thanks to a second-half goal from Callum Hudson-Odoi.

They come into this match on a seven-match winning streak in all competitions, having conceded just one goal in that period. Their run of form and position is, according to Slot, no fluke.

"They have already showed in retrospect how good a team they are. When Liverpool lose a home game it’s something you don’t expect," he said.

"For us to lose on that day was hard to take. Now, looking back and seeing where they are in the league, it is not such a shock as it felt then.

"They had a good gameplan and I expect their wingers, who have done so well, to be in their starting XI tomorrow."

Forest coach Nuno Espirito Santo, meanwhile, was pleased that his men were able to maintain momentum with a 2-0 victory over Luton Town in the FA Cup on Saturday.

“It was good. It was important for all the players to play and for us to reward them,” he said.

“They enjoyed themselves, playing at the City Ground. It was the first time playing together for many of them, but overall it was a job done in a very professional way.

“It is very important to keep the momentum, the spirit and the habit going. It is always nice when we go to tomorrow with a smile and prepare for a tough game. If we are happy, it is easier."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood

Wood is having the season of his life at Nottingham Forest, having scored 12 league goals up to now.

The New Zealand international is the sixth-highest scorer in the Premier League this season and has netted two in his last two.

Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

Salah has marked himself out as a Player of the Season contender, having been directly involved in 31 league goals (18G 13A) already this campaign.

He is averaging 0.97 goals per 90 minutes and has scored five times in his last four league appearances.

MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 15 league games (W11 D4), which has helped them open a six-point gap at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand.

The visitors also won this exact fixture 1-0 last season, ending a 13-game winless run away to Nottingham Forest (D7 L6) in doing so.

They have also scored at least twice in each of their last 12 Premier League games, their second-longest such run, after doing so in 15 consecutive matches between March and September 2019. They went on to lift the title after that run ended in 2019-20.

While Nottingham Forest inflicted Liverpool's first defeat of the season, they are winless in their other five matches against teams currently in the Premier League's top seven (D2 L3).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nottingham Forest – 23%

Draw – 23.2%

Liverpool – 53.8%