Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, has said Nottingham Forest “deserve” to be considered as Premier League title contenders.
Both sides play each other at the City Ground on Tuesday.
Forest, the only team to beat Liverpool in the league so far, go into the game sitting in third place.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men can move within just three points of the title favourites if they secure a seventh consecutive league victory in midweek.
Forest narrowly avoided relegation last season, and their rise to the upper echelons of the table has been a major surprise.
But Slot has said they must now be regarded as serious challengers.
“I’ve always said that the table is best judged halfway through the season, and that moment is here now,” Slot told reporters today.
“If Forest are up there with us, Arsenal, Chelsea, (Manchester) City, and all the others, then they are certainly in competition with us and the other teams.
“And they deserve to be treated as such when you look at their style of play and their results. It’s going to be a very tough challenge tomorrow to secure a result.”
