Virgil van Dijk shares the one big advantage Nottingham Forest have over Liverpool
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Nottingham Forest played out a 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Tuesday night as the Anfield giants maintained a six-point lead over the Reds at the top of the Premier League.
Chris Wood was hailed by Arne Slot in the lead-up to the game. He still had that endorsement ringing in his ears when firing Forest into the lead after just eight minutes at the City Ground.
For a while, it felt as though Forest might claim a huge three points. However, Diogo Jota leapt higher than anyone else in the 66th minute to restore parity and earn the leaders a valuable point.
The Reds gave it a go though and played their part in a very entertaining game. Slot hailed one Forest player after the game, despite getting stick from the fan base for seemingly the entire 90 minutes.
Virgil van Dijk shares advantage Nottingham Forest have over Liverpool
To many supporters, Forest are not currently embroiled in a title race. The position the team finds themselves in is great but fans are merely enjoying the ride and hoping to see as much progression as possible this season.
Nuno Espirito Santo certainly won’t be getting carried away. He is fully focused on seeing progress in every game from his team and the Forest head coach has been one of the success stories of the season.
After the game with Liverpool, Van Dijk has paid Forest a bit of a compliment. He’s also seemingly suggested that the Reds might actually be one of his team’s rivals for the league.
He told BBC Sport: “The last few games Nottingham Forest have been very consistent. They are doing a very good job.
“There are so many games to go, they don’t play in Europe so that gives them a little it of extra rest. It’s only a big credit to how they have been performing so far.”
Forest can achieve success this season
Nobody would have predicted an assault on Europe for Forest this season. However, with less than half the season remaining that is the reality facing the club right now.
With the teams in the mix, it won’t be easy. All Forest can keep doing, however, is claim as many points as possible and give themselves the best chance to end in the top eight.
It’s nice to hear Van Dijk hail Forest to a certain degree. He’s got a point too in the sense that all of the teams challenging for the top spots are in Europe with the exception of Forest and Newcastle – although the Magpies remain in the League Cup.
Forest won’t be getting too excited about Europe just yet. It’s merely nice to be competing in the Premier League with a group of players who are like a band of brothers and long may that continue.
