![\"Liverpool](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1_JS396350014.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLiverpool take on Nottingham Forest this weekend and they can call upon a player who missed out at Anfield back in November<\/p>\n
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: Andrew Powell\/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It became a running joke that swept through the online Liverpool fanbase for much of last season. This term, though, nobody of an Anfield<\/a> persuasion will have found it particularly funny.<\/p>\n When the Reds took each step towards lifting a record-equalling 20th championship, much amusement was extracted from Arne Slot’s repeated references to what, for much of the campaign, was his team’s sole Premier League<\/a> defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n But when Forest returned to Anfield in November, it prompted the start of a week in which the growing pressure Slot was feeling after a dismal run of results reached an almost intolerable level.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Liverpool FA Cup date confirmed as Champions League hopes given boost<\/a>READ MORE: Liverpool defender ruled out of Nottingham Forest clash as one player ready to start<\/a><\/p>\n A dreadful 3-0 reverse to the struggling Tricky Trees was followed by an even worse 4-1 loss at home to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League<\/a>, leading to calls for Slot to be sacked after a run of nine defeats in 12 games.<\/p>\n That week, though, has subsequently proven a turning point for Liverpool, their boss and one player in particular.<\/p>\n Easily overlooked at the time was that Florian Wirtz missed both matches through injury, the only games this season \u2013 save being rested in the League <\/a>Cup \u2013 in which he has not been involved.<\/p>\n Given Wirtz at that time had yet to contribute a goal contribution of any note in the Premier League following his \u00a3116million move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, that his absence wasn’t regarded by many as a contributory factor behind the dismal defeats was perhaps understandable.<\/p>\n FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated LFC Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n But Liverpool’s subsequent run of just two losses in 19 games in all competitions, which has seen them reach the last 16 of the Champions League and FA Cup<\/a> and reignite hopes of a top-four Premier League finish, has predominantly seen Wirtz at the epicentre.<\/p>\n In those games, Wirtz has six goals and five assists, compared to no goals and three assists in the 16 games beforehand.<\/p>\n Those numbers, while not exactly earth-shattering, point to an obvious improvement in output. But where Wirtz has shone greater is in his all-round game and his on-field understanding with his team-mates.<\/p>\n Hugo Ekitike is the most obvious example of that, with the pair having combined for seven goals, but of late there has been an improved partnership with Mohamed Salah<\/a> in particular.<\/p>\n Wirtz’s durability has also increased, with the Germany international having started every Premier League game since the Forest defeat and lasted the duration in five of the last six.<\/p>\n Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate<\/a> or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings<\/p>\n Sunday’s Premier League trip to the City Ground to take on Forest, then, would appear the ideal fixture for the 22-year-old to showcase his improvement against a side for whom former Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has replaced the sacked Sean Dyche, with his first game Thursday’s Europa League<\/a> play-off round first leg at Fenerbahce.<\/p>\n “We only have (Thursday) to see if this manager changes personnel, changes tactics,” said Slot. “The good thing is that we, of course, know him because he worked last season in the Premier League as well.<\/p>\n “It was a difficult game for us in the beginning of the season (against Forest) \u2013 although, again, I’m going to say the same in that the first half-hour was very, very good from us, chance after chance and then we conceded a set-piece and the game went completely the opposite way.<\/p>\n “So, we know what we can expect if we play Forest because I’ve played them three times already.”<\/p>\n For Wirtz, though, it’s a first time. And with Slot still seeking his first win against Forest, that could make the difference for Liverpool.<\/p>\n Blood Red February issue on sale now<\/p>\n
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