Nottingham Forest is a club with a lot of history, and there were many who cheered them on when they finally got back into the Premier League last year, after more than 20 years out of good company.
When the two sides met at the City Ground in the FA Cup last March, it was the first time in more than 20 years that the two sides had met. Liverpool won that game 1-0, but Forest got their revenge when they stunned and beat Liverpool 1-0 at home in October this season. It was the first time Forest had beaten the Reds in an official match since March 1996, but it was, after all, at a stadium that Liverpool have historically struggled to win.
When the two sides meet at Anfield on Saturday, Forest have an even bigger task if they are to pick up three points.
He hasn’t won it since the 1960s
The history and form, which we wrote about yesterday, suggest that Liverpool are the favorites ahead of Saturday’s game. Forest are winless and have just three points in their last ten league games, and they haven’t won at Anfield in over 50 years.
This is how it went the last time the two teams met:
Now, of course, Forest haven’t had a chance to do anything about Anfield’s stats for 25 years, with the previous meeting here coming in 1998, but we’ll have to go back further in history to find the last time they took something away from Anfield.
In the league, they haven’t won at Liverpool’s home ground since winning 2-0 in 1969, but the historic rivalry between the two clubs took place in the late 1970s and is something that is still sung to this day in The Cop.
Fight for prizes
Bob Paisley was manager of one of the best teams in English football ever, when Liverpool destroyed the 1970s. But almost out of nowhere Brian Clough and Nottingham Forest came, putting an end to Liverpool’s struggle for league gold in 1977/78. For three seasons, English football was dominated by Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
In the same season they met in the final of the League Cup. The game was scoreless at Wembley, and a replay was required at Old Trafford to decide the winner. It was dramatic. Phil Thompson made a “professional foul” when he pushed and fouled John O’Hare.
When Forest won the league, and Liverpool finished runners-up, they both qualified for the 1978/79 European Cup. Liverpool have won the European Cup in the past two years, but now they faced tough opposition in the first round: Nottingham Forest. It was Clough and his teammates who took the lead, winning 2-0 at the City Ground and squeezing Liverpool out at Anfield.
Forest won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980, before the glory days were over. Now it is the battle for survival in the Premier League, and they are desperate for points when they visit Anfield.
Liverpool – Nottingham Forest will take place on Saturday at 4pm.
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