An injury to Florian Wirtz forced a last-minute change to Liverpool’s starting line-up against Nottingham Forest. The 23-year-old Wirtz is believed to have sustained a muscle injury during the warm-up, prompting Arne Slot to bring in Curtis Jones as his replacement.

The German’s absence exacerbates Liverpool’s current injury concerns. Wirtz joins a growing list of sidelined players, including Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong, Wataru Endo, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni. Slot is expected to provide an update on the midfielder’s condition after the match. Wirtz’s injury comes just as he was finding his feet in a Liverpool shirt, after a slow start at Anfield after his £116million transfer last summer.

The ex-Bayer Leverkusen ace has scored six goals and provided three assists in his last 14 appearances. Wirtz was exceptional in Liverpool’s most recent Premier League match, where he shone brightly to help the Reds secure a hard-earned 1-0 victory away at Sunderland.

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With Chelsea dropping points on Saturday and Manchester United not playing until Monday, Liverpool can boost their chances of securing a Champions League spot by defeating Forest. Their opponents are also in dire need of the full three points as they strive to avoid relegation under new boss Vitor Pereira.

Portuguese manager Pereira made a triumphant start to his Forest reign on Thursday, as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Fenerbahce in their Europa League play-off first leg. Forest also defeated Liverpool in the reverse fixture back in November.

“Back then they were in a different management as well, because I think it was Sean Dyche’s third or fourth game,” Slot said at his pre-match press conference. “That sometimes makes it a little bit more difficult because we only have tonight to see if this manager changes personnel, changes tactics.

“The good thing is that there is still one game to be played before we play them and we, of course, know him because he worked last season in the Premier League as well.

“But usually you would also adapt to the players you have. Although managers have a preferred playing style, you take into account which players you have as well.

“So, let’s see. It was a difficult game for us in the beginning of the season – although, again, I’m going to say the same in that the first half-hour was very, very good from us, [with] chance after chance and then we conceded a set-piece and the game went completely the opposite way.

“So, we know what we can expect if we play Forest because I’ve played them three times already.”