If Liverpool beat Forest the Prem title race is over but a win for visitors will resurrect shades of Leicester 2016

SIX points clear with a game in hand.

Surely only complacency can prevent Liverpool running away with the Prem crown?

Another win on Tuesday night and Prem bosses can start planning the title ceremony on May 25.

Yet Arne Slot and his men head to the City Ground with questions suddenly being asked.

And if Nuno Espirito Santo’s side can repeat their shock September Anfield triumph, then the alarm bells might just start ringing.

Liverpool were imperious over the Christmas fixtures, building on the impressive early foundations of the club’s new era.

Hitting Spurs for six was a let-off for Ange Postecoglou’s side, even if Slot will not have been impressed with the three goals his team conceded.

Then an ultimately comfortable home win over Leicester was followed by another capital day in the capital, West Ham crushed by five – with a margin that might easily have been doubled.

Those wins ensured that Arsenal’s return to winning ways in their own crop of fixtures kept Liverpool’s cushion at the top of the pile.

And when the Gunners dropped two points at Brighton on Saturday evening – courtesy of the Joao Pedro penalty decision that certainly split opinion – Liverpool had the chance to really make them pay when they hosted a Manchester United side who travelled to Anfield seemingly already plucked and ready for the oven.

Only it didn’t work out that way.

Liverpool delivered arguably their worst display of the campaign, fortunate that Harry Maguire did not take all three points deep in stoppage time.

Fan unhappiness at the apparent contract game being played by Trent Alexander-Arnold saw some home supporters vent at the England right-back, while doubts over the long-term futures of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk will persist until they put pen to paper on new deals.

Further grumblings – and not just at referee Stuart Atwell – came in the wake of another sub-par performance when they returned to N17 against Spurs in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg last week.

And while Liverpool would remain favourites even if they slip up at Nottingham Forest, the mood music might start to change – with the possibility that we really are in for a title race, rather than a procession.

Slot, long enough in the game to know that a couple of ragged performances are only to be expected given the sheer intensity of the fixture list, has done everything not to show concern.

After all, Liverpool did not exactly lose anything last week. They remain in charge of their own Prem destiny and will back themselves to overturn the first-leg deficit when Tottenham arrive on Merseyside next month.

But Forest do not have to be told a gameplan by Nuno. They already know it inside out.

Unlike many of the sides who have been stripped bare by Liverpool’s attacking insurgencies, Forest will rely on their own approach to catch the visitors on the counter.

The defensive solidity that has seen Forest concede just 19 goals – the same as Liverpool and only one more than Arsenal – is a major reason Nuno’s men go into the match in an unexpected third place.

Win it and shades of Leicester’s 2016 triumph will be resurrected. After all, they will be within three points of the summit.

A second Prem defeat of the season for Liverpool would raise Arsenal’s hopes as well, especially as the Reds have to travel to Brentford and Bournemouth either side of hosting Ipswich in their next three top-flight matches.

Yet a Liverpool win, ending any talk of a “blip” before it has a chance to gain traction, could be a genuine hammer blow – especially as it would put added pressure on Mikel Arteta’s Gunners ahead of the North London derby on Wednesday.

Slot’s team for the FA Cup win over Accrington on Saturday signalled his awareness of the importance of Tuesday’s game in the greater picture.

Potential Arsenal title boost

Liverpool cannot win, or lose, the league title at the City Ground. There is nearly half a season to go.

But three more points in their quest to raise the trophy in front of their own fans for the first time since 1990 – Jurgen Klopp’s 2020 triumph saw muted celebrations in front of an empty Kop because of the pandemic – and it will be hard to see what could stop them.

Conversely, anything that opens the door, even by a chink, will bring additional scrutiny of Liverpool’s depth and determination.

Arsenal – and Forest – will sense there is a vulnerability. The fans of all three sides will intensify those elements.

Remember, too, it was in the corresponding early January midweek fixtures in 2016 that Leicester survived an inquisition by Spurs to squeeze a 1-0 win that was to make a huge difference in the run-in.

Who would have thought Forest against Liverpool, two weeks after Christmas, might be the biggest game of the season so far? But it feels like it is.