Nottinghamshire

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The Premier League returns on Saturday as Nottingham Forest travel to Liverpool in hope of another shock victory at Anfield like last season.

But there is no doubt it will be more challenging after Sean Dyche went in to Thursday's news conference with a hand-written injury list - an indication into just how many absentees Forest still have.

"It doesn't sound like any of them except Callum Hudson-Odoi are particularly close to a return," said Colin Fray on BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast. "One or two are back on the grass but most of them are still working with the medical team.

"It looks like these injuries will drag on and Dyche is loathed to put any time scales on any of them.

"It is a bit of worry for Dyche that he has got fewer bodies to choose from, especially now the international break is out of the way because there was hope two or three might be back by now.

"It is a hectic period coming up as they play midweek for the next three weeks as well as at the weekends, so there is no rest-bite in the fixture list from now on.

"It was not really positive news."

Travelling to the reigning champions with a depleted squad does not sound like an easy feat but Forest fans can take some hope from the fact Liverpool went into the international break in poor league form.

"It is a fascinating time to go and play them," added Fray. "It is hard to work out why it has gone wrong for them having spent a lot of money in the summer to strengthen a title winning team but it just has.

"Yet when they can't put a run together in the Premier League they can beat Real and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League at Anfield!

"If Alexander Isak is fit and plays then he will no doubt score because he always does against Forest and if we are to get anything from the game then we have to be as good as we were last season.

"Forest have got to do their best to make sure it is not on this day that Liverpool recover from their slump."

Listen to the full episode here

Manchester United are eyeing Elliot Anderson, 23, but face competition from Liverpool and Newcastle for the £100m-rated England and Nottingham Forest midfielder. (Times - subscription required, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

A new episode of BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast is available on BBC Sounds.

David Jackson and Colin Fray look ahead to Saturday's trip to face Liverpool at Anfield.

Also, hear from fan Stephen Crean, who was among multiple people stabbed on a train in Cambridgeshire earlier this month and hailed a hero after confronting the attacker.

Listen to the full episode here

Explore all Nottingham Forest content on BBC Sounds

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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One of potentially the biggest moments in English football is coming on Friday, but precious few people understand how important it could be or even know about it.

The Premier League is considering 'anchoring' wages, which would cap the amount any club could spend on their squad at five times the smallest central Premier League broadcasting and prize money payout.

It is a complex argument. The league and some clubs are considering it because they want to ensure wage inflation does not continue to rise endangering their long-term financial security. From the other side - the players and their union, the PFA - this unnaturally limits the amount they can earn in what has until now been a free and open market.

Any changes to that position foisted upon the players without their prior consultation and agreement will not go down well. Remember, the players are the people that the paying public, the TV companies and the advertisers want to see, not a bunch of chairmen, executives and directors arguing over accounts, dividends and profit margins.

The game has increased the number of games played per season without consulting those who are physically doing it. No studies on how that will affect their health in the short and long term were considered, and so the PFA in England looks like it is finally ready to take a strong stand for its members.

Strike ballots are not unknown, I should know, as chairman of the PFA my name was on the bottom of every ballot paper when we last considered strike action over changes in working conditions. The modern owners may have forgotten, but we had 99% backing from our members.

Owners may think of footballers as ultra wealthy, mercenary, thickos who can easily be controlled - well they thought that last time and they lost.

It is time for serious and meaningful negotiation between equals and not a master and serf attitude from one side towards the other.

Sign up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Liverpool at Anfield (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Winger Callum Hudson-Odoi is "making good progress" and is "in consideration" for the squad on Saturday. Meanwhile, forward Chris Wood is being rescanned but it is "good news so far", and Douglas Luiz is making progress so it will be "a matter of time but not instant".

• Dyche added that Wood's knee injury is "nothing too serious" and this is just a "settling period" for it.

• Dilane Bakwa, Ola Aina and Oleksandr Zinchenko are "making progress" but are still with the sports science and physios side of their recovery.

• The Forest boss said they will not know the impact of the win over Leeds United and subsequent international break "until the whistle blows", but "a break was needed" to give themselves more time with the players and for those injured to miss fewer games.

• He added: "We're building a feeling among the group that we think is positive. There were good signs after the Leeds game of that feeling, not just with a performance and result, but also the connection that you get after the game and that good feeling in the camp and around the club."

• On what midfielder Elliott Anderson's ceiling is: "He is a good player. He's got everything in front of him and I've spoke to him about what I call the nuts and bolts of his performances, but not at any length - less is more, I think, for him. He's naturally going about his business the right way, he's learning the game as he goes, so input is over coaching someone and you've got to be careful with that."

• Asked whether they can take confidence from winning at Anfield last season and good results he has had with previous sides, Dyche responded: "You want a team and yourself to be confident wherever you go. You can't guarantee these things but I think we've got a team that can compete. That's a big thing. We want to be competitive in every game. We're beginning to build that mentality."

• Dyche said the club "has shown they're willing to invest when they need to" as the winter transfer window approaches, adding: "But it's a constant thing, looking at players' availability, the shifting sands of football. Who is moving where? Who is doing what? That's football, not just Nottingham Forest. Sometimes you sit tight because that is what the market says you can't [do]."

Hear more from Dyche on BBC Sounds

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary of Liverpool v Nottingham Forest at 15:00 on Saturday on BBC Sounds

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

One of the biggest stories of the Premier League season so far is the decline of goals scored in open play and how teams have been scoring more from set-pieces instead.

When we compare how goals have been scored to the first 11 games last season, there have been 39 fewer scored in open play and 26 more from team set-pieces and penalties, giving us 13 fewer overall.

If we look at the bigger picture and the number of shots teams are taking, there have been an incredible 370 fewer in open play than at this stage last time out.

So which teams are most responsible for this change in how goals are scored this season?

The above graph compares how teams have gone up or down in numbers of set-piece and goals from open play compared with the same stage last season.

In terms of goals scored from open play, Wolves have seen by far the biggest decline, scoring just four in 11 games and that is 10 fewer than at this stage last season.

Outside of Wolves, the Premier League's decline in open play goals is very much a London thing, with five of the capital's seven sides scoring at least five goals fewer from open play than last season.

In fairness, that is largely down to them scoring lots of goals at the start of last season rather than them really struggling to score in open play this campaign.

Meanwhile Manchester City have seen the biggest increase, with all but one of their 23 goals scored this season coming in open play.

When it comes to goals scored from set-pieces (excluding penalties), Arsenal and Chelsea have seen the biggest increase, with both sides replacing the five fewer goals that they have scored in open play with the same number from dead-ball situation.

Manchester United have scored twice as many goals from set-pieces as they did in the 11 games before Ruben Amorim took charge last season.

On the flipside, Manchester City do not seem to have got the memo about scoring more from set-pieces because they've scored three fewer than last season, as have Nottingham Forest, although that might be down to the change in style they have tried to implement.

Read more about this season's scoring trends here

Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport journalist

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The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off earlier than usual this year, with up to 17 Premier League clubs set to be affected by players jetting off to host country Morocco.

The tournament runs from 21 December until 18 January.

There has been no official announcement about which date clubs will have to release their players by - and it could vary depending on agreements.

Players could miss up to six, or in some cases seven, Premier League matches - plus FA Cup and Carabao Cup games - if they reach the final.

The group stages end on 31 December, so quickly eliminated players may only miss half that amount.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds do not have any players due to play in the 2025 Afcon - with Sunderland and Wolves losing the most players.

• Aston Villa - 1

• Bournemouth - 1

• Brentford - 2

• Brighton - 1

• Burnley - 3

• Crystal Palace - 1 to 4

• Everton - 2 to 3

• Fulham - 3

• Liverpool - 1

• Manchester City - 2

• Manchester United - 3

• Newcastle United - 0 to 1

• Nottingham Forest - 1 to 4

• Sunderland - 7

• Tottenham - 1 to 2

• West Ham United - 2

• Wolves - 5

Read the full article here to know which players will feature at Afcon