Nottingham Forest supporters will see a fourth new face in the City Ground dugout this season when they welcome Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday (14:00 GMT).
After making his Forest managerial bow in the Europa League on Thursday at Fenerbahce – an impressive 3-0 win – Vitor Pereira will take charge of his first league fixture with the club this weekend. The nature of Forest’s managerial changes – not to mention their perilous league position – means he will need to hit the ground running.
Advertisement
They welcome a Liverpool side who have shown some positive signs recently after back-to-back wins. A top-five finish, and what should be Champions League football next season, remains their Premier League aim after a limp title defence.
Fourth time lucky for Forest?
Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Pereira will be quiz-question answers for years to come. For the first time in the Premier League, a team will have had four permanent managers in a single season; there are still 12 games of the top-flight campaign to go too.
Pereira’s aggressive, attacking brand of football represents another tactical U-turn for Forest and it will be intriguing to see how quickly he can get his ideas across, especially a three-man defence set-up that will be unfamiliar for the current squad.
[BBC]
When he took charge at Wolves last season it did not take long, winning 10 of his first 22 games. But this year the wheels fell off, with Wolves only taking two points from 10 games before Pereira was sacked.
Advertisement
If he were to secure a huge win, it would snap a worrying trend from a Forest perspective. The last manager to win his first Premier League game in charge was Dave Bassett in 1997; all six since have lost their openers in the competition.
Dom delivering for Liverpool
Liverpool have next to no hope of retaining their Premier League title, but with the FA Cup and Champions League still up for grabs, they seem to be coming to the boil at the perfect time.
Last time out in the Premier League, they won at Sunderland – becoming the first team to triumph at the Stadium of Light this season – and then they dispatched Brighton in the FA Cup last weekend.
Advertisement
There is no doubt that their standout player this season has been Dominik Szoboszlai, who was on the scoresheet again against the Seagulls. He now has five goals and two assists in his last eight games in all competitions.
[BBC]
Should he line up in midfield – the Hungarian has been deployed at right-back on a number of occasions this season – his battle with Elliot Anderson will be vital in determining the outcome of the contest.
Liverpool do not have many happy recent memories against their Nottingham opponents, though. Forest have not lost any of the last three meetings between the two teams – the most recent a 3-0 win at Anfield – and the Reds have won just one of their last 15 visits to the City Ground.