FA Cup quarter-final: Liverpool aiming to overcome giant killers Nottingham Forest

Liverpool travel to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday as they aim to continue their push for a historic quadruple.

Liverpool aiming for the fab four

With the League Cup in the bag, the Reds have slashed Manchester City’s lead in the Premier League to just a point while they retain an interest in the Champions League.

Unsurprisingly, they are hot favourites ahead of the trip to the Championship side and can be found at 1.31 to win in 90 minutes. A draw is on offer a 6.0 and a home win is an 11.5 outsider.

Forest in form

Forest have enjoyed an excellent run in the cup thus far, taking Premier League scalps Arsenal and Leicester along the way. Indeed, that 4-1 win over the Foxes may have been their most impressive outing of the season to date.

They continued their run in the fifth round by beating Huddersfield before being drawn at home for a fourth time in succession against the side that sits second in the Premier League.

Undefeated since the end of January, when they lost away to Cardiff, Forest have heaved themselves into contention for a playoff spot come the end of the season and a side that must be respected.

Red alert

Liverpool’s form, meanwhile, needs little introduction. Jurgen Klopp’s side have been on a charge since drawing 2-2 with Chelsea on January 2. Following that match, they have won 14 of their 16 matches. Of the two exceptions, they beat the Blues on penalties to win the League Cup and progressed in the Champions League, despite losing 1-0 to Inter at Anfield.

Their run continued Thursday with a powerful 2-0 win over Arsenal away from home that acted as a warning shot of their ability to win the Premier League.

The Reds have yet to be genuinely pushed in the FA Cup, with home matches against Shrewsbury, Cardiff and Norwich all won in relatively short order. In these encounters, Klopp has explored the depth of his squad by giving reserve and fringe players rare minutes, and he will likely continue that on Sunday.

Without an FA Cup triumph since 2006, this is the competition that has eluded Liverpool the most in recent years, though they have not been on the wrong end of a major upset since losing 3-2 to third-tier Oldham in January 2013.

Virgil van Dijk's Liverpool have not won the FA Cup since 2006

Back both teams to score

The likelihood of Liverpool offering some rotation to their international stars before the break adds an element of jeopardy to this game, although there is little doubt that the Reds deserve their strong favouritism, priced at 1.31.

The best value could lie in goals, though. Liverpool’s three previous FA Cup ties have seen both teams find the net, while Forest have been in good form in from of goal lately, scoring nine in their last three games.

Meanwhile, Takumi Minamino is a player to watch for Liverpool. Having started the last two FA Cup ties, he has three goals to his name. Liable to start again at the City Ground, anytime scorer odds of 2.78 look kind.

Recommended bets:

Both teams to score @ 2.02

Takumi Minamino anytime @ 2.78