Sean Dyche has disclosed a staggering list of Nottingham Forest players unavailable ahead of their clash with Liverpool.
There was always a sense that this weekend could produce very different emotions for both sides, and the latest update from the opposition camp has only reinforced that ahead of our visit to Nottinghamshire.
According to Liverpoolfc.com, Forest boss Sean Dyche turned up to his press conference with what was described as a literal written list of unavailable players, confirming just one possible return for the clash with Liverpool.
Dyche revealed that Callum Hudson-Odoi – who scored the winner in this fixture last season – “has made good progress” and is “definitely being considered for the squad”.
“He’s close,” Dyche said. “At least we can think about him being involved again, which is a positive for us.”
That update came amid widespread uncertainty for Forest, who are dealing with a long list of injuries across the team.
Liverpool head to Forest with their own concerns
Although Forest’s problems are significant, we also have fresh issues to manage after Arne Slot confirmed that Conor Bradley and Florian Wirtz “can’t play” against Forest, calling the situation “far from ideal”.
Our head coach admitted that “maybe one or two players will have to play in roles they’re not used to”, hinting at more rotation than planned.
These muscle injuries come during a heavy schedule in which both players have featured heavily for club and country recently.
Forest’s injury list grows as Liverpool aim to rediscover rhythm
Dyche confirmed that no other injured players are expected to return in time.
Chris Wood is awaiting another scan, Douglas Luiz still needs more time, Angus Gunn remains sidelined, while Ola Aina, Dilane Bakwa, Oleksandr Zinchenko and young goalkeeper Aaron Bott are all “progressing but not training with the group yet”.
The size of that list will undoubtedly influence Forest’s approach, but Liverpool also have key developments of their own.
One positive came from Slot, who confirmed that Alisson “trained last week and this week”, raising hopes that our world-class goalkeeper could feature if he gets through the final session.
His potential return is significant given the period in which we struggled without him, managing only three wins from eight games during his absence.
With both teams navigating selection headaches, this weekend’s match could come down to which manager adapts best to the circumstances.
