Full Time
Nottingham Forest led twice at Anfield but had to settle for a point as Liverpool came from behind to draw 2-2, Victor Muñoz grabbing a late equaliser to mark his home debut in the best way possible. Forest are now unbeaten in three visits to Anfield, which will needle Liverpool more than they'll admit publicly. It wasn't the perfect start for either side defensively, but Forest's willingness to go toe-to-toe at one of the league's toughest away grounds says plenty about their ambitions this season. Both clubs sit on two points from two games, level on draws rather than wins - solid enough, though Forest in particular will wonder how they've not won either match after leading in both.
Pre-match Talking Points
Match talking points will appear here before kick-off.
Team Talking Points
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1Liverpool sacked Arne Slot in the summer — barely a year after he'd delivered the club's 20th league title — following a difficult follow-up season that ended in fifth place. It's a brutal reminder of how quickly things move at the top of this club.
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2New head coach Andoni Iraola arrives from Bournemouth, where he took a club with a fraction of Liverpool's resources into Europe for the first time in their history. Expectations at Anfield are obviously a completely different scale.
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3Iraola is still unbeaten in charge — draws against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest either side of a win away at Ipswich — but he's yet to win a league game at Anfield, which is the box every new Liverpool manager needs to tick early.
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4Bringing in a manager known for high-intensity, front-foot football after Slot's more controlled approach is a genuine change of identity, not just a change of face in the technical area. Worth knowing if you want to sound like you've actually followed the appointment.
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5Liverpool fans have seen title wins and post-title collapses before, so there's more patience for a transition season than outsiders might expect. The demand right now is progress, not instant perfection.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Liverpool went from champions to sacking their manager inside about twelve months, which tells you everything about how this club measures itself.
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Avoid saying
"Liverpool are still basically Klopp's team" — Klopp left years ago, they've had a title-winning manager and a managerial change since, and saying this instantly dates you to a conversation from a completely different era.
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1Forest have just appointed their fifth manager in twelve months: Oliver Glasner, who arrives fresh from guiding Crystal Palace through the best spell in that club's history — an FA Cup, a Community Shield and a Europa Conference League title in two and a half seasons.
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2He's inheriting a club that's burned through Nuno Espírito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Vitor Pereira in barely a year, so his first job is basically just convincing everyone he'll still be there at Christmas.
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3Forest sold Anthony Elanga to Newcastle for £55m over the summer — a reminder that even Forest's good news stories, like developing a genuine Premier League winger, tend to end with someone else cashing in on the result.
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4Their opening weeks have been settling-in territory rather than statement-making: a 0-0 at home to Tottenham where Forest actually had a goal ruled out for handball on the line by VAR in the 67th minute.
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5With that much managerial change at the City Ground, 'stability' is now doing a lot of work in every article written about Forest — Glasner's entire pitch is that he's the one who can actually make it stick this time.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Forest fans have stopped bothering to learn new managers' names properly — there's no point getting attached.
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Avoid saying
"Forest are still riding that European high" — that was two managers and the best part of a year ago; say it now and you'll sound like you haven't checked in since spring.