Liverpool remain on course to lift four trophies this season, but were pushed to the limit when scraping past Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Only Alisson, Virgil Van Dijk, Fabinho and Diogo Jota retained their places from Liverpool’s midweek win at Arsenal. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were omitted from the squad entirely as Harvey Elliott and Roberto Firmino joined Jota up front.
Nottingham Forest made just one change from Wednesday’s victory over QPR, with Joe Lolley replacing injured defender Scott McKenna.
Buoyed by a raucous home crowd, Forest gave as good as they got inside the opening 10 minutes. Both sides looked threatening with each foray forward in what promised to be a thoroughly engaging affair.
Diogo Jota appeared to have the Forest goal at his mercy after Roberto Firmino’s neat flick sent him through. However, a perfectly-timed tackle from Joe Worrall scuppered the Portuguese just as he motioned to strike.
A key battle emerged down Liverpool’s left with Kostas Tsimikas duelling with the impressive Djed Spence. Both players strived to make their presence felt going forward, but were mindful of leaving their opposite number unattended.
Shots rained in from all distances and angles from both sides. But with 20 minutes played, neither goalkeeper had been required to make a save fit for their highlight reels.
But Forest almost became their own worst enemies when Jack Colback surrendered possession deep within his own half. Roberto Firmino was the benefactor and strolled towards goal with only Ethan Horvath to beat. The stopper stood up tall and repelled the Brazilian’s dinked effort, much to Colback’s relief.
A let off for #NFFC, as Roberto Firmino fails to capitalise after Liverpool pounce on a Nottingham Forest mistake 😬#ITVFootball | #EmiratesFACup | #NOTLIV pic.twitter.com/RrlO0xx7gb
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 20, 2022
But barring errors, Forest were largely preventing their Premier League opponents from…
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