Captains calls for composure as new-look Reds prepare for Anfield return

Virgil van Dijk insists Liverpool will not panic after their opening-weekend draw at Newcastle United, but the captain says a “reaction” is needed this Saturday when Nottingham Forest arrive at Anfield for the Reds' first Premier League home game of 2026-27.

Liverpool began life under new boss Andoni Iraola with a 2-2 draw at St. James' Park, with Dominik Szoboszlai's stunning 99th-minute penalty snatching a point for his team at the death. The Reds twice fell behind through strikes from Anthony Elanga and Joe Willock, with Iraola cutting a frustrated figure on the touchline as his team struggled to control the contest.

Arne Slot in 2024-25 is the only one of Liverpool's last seven managers to win his first Premier League game in charge of the club, and the need for improvement was evident. Liverpool finished fifth last season and, as a result, sacked Slot before appointing Iraola.

Van Dijk described last term as “unacceptable”, but he called for patience with the new regime at Anfield ahead of welcoming Nottingham Forest to Merseyside on Saturday.

“It's absolutely normal in any type of profession, if you come in new, and you have new plans and new ideas, then it takes a bit of time with new players,” said Van Dijk. “It's down to us to do it as soon as we can, as soon as possible, because we want to improve, we want to win and we want to be better. That's what we are going to try to do.

“We need to show a reaction from last year, that we are much better than last year, because this was very unacceptable.

“It's so early on in the season. I think if we start panicking regardless of what could have happened, then obviously you won't be in a good place.

“We work on the training ground a lot of hours and have a lot of discussions on the pitch about how we want to do better, what we want to do and what the manager wants to see. Hopefully, next week, it will be very close to what he wants us to do. There were some good things in the game, but obviously also things that we have to improve.”

Forest's difficult start under Glasner

Forest are another side under new management this season, with Oliver Glasner taking the reins at the City Ground, though it has been far from the ideal start for the Austrian. After losing to Leeds United on the opening day, Forest were dumped out of the EFL Cup in midweek by the same opponents, who won 2-0.

Forest have lost their opening league match in six of their last eight campaigns (W1 D1), while as a top-flight side they have now won just one of their last 10 EFL Cup matches against fellow top-flight teams, losing seven of those (D2).

“Tough, tough night. Tough defeat. Of course, a start that we wished differently, but on the other side this is what we have to accept,” said Glasner. “It's the reality of where we are right now. If you lose both games against Leeds in three days, we must accept they were better.

“They are together now two or three years now and are adding one or two or three players and that is what we could see. It's much more stability in the team, whereas we were struggling in a few moments. We made too many mistakes.

“It was really playing with the pressure, we knew but we took many wrong decisions and gave them the chances.”

Players to watch

Dominik Szoboszlai has had a hand in 11 goals across his last 16 Premier League appearances (five goals, six assists), netting Liverpool's 99th-minute equaliser at Newcastle. Since the start of that run in late January, only Bruno Fernandes (16), Morgan Gibbs-White (13), Jarrod Bowen (13) and Joao Pedro (12) have more goal involvements in the competition.

Nottingham Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White missed the midweek defeat to Leeds with an injury, but Glasner insisted the club were doing everything possible to have him available this Saturday. He has either scored (two) or assisted (one) three of Forest's last six Premier League goals at Anfield, while he has also scored the most Premier League goals overall this calendar year (12).

Match prediction: Liverpool victory

Despite being favoured by the Opta supercomputer (62.7% win probability), Liverpool have lost their last two home league games against Forest — more than they had in their previous 30 against them (W24 D5 L1). They have never lost three in a row against the Tricky Trees at Anfield.

The Reds have won their first home game in 12 of the last 13 Premier League seasons, and have not lost their first Anfield league match since 2003-04 (1-2 v Chelsea). However, Liverpool have failed to win any of their last five league games (D3 L2), and they up against a Forest side that has produced more league wins (three) against Liverpool than any other side since the visitors' return to the Premier League in 2022.

Forest have also won their last two Premier League away games at Anfield, yet have won their opening away game in just one of the last eight league seasons.

The Opta win probability favours Liverpool at Corner, with a draw at 19.5% and Forest at 17.8%.