Liverpool continue to chase a first win of the new Premier League season as Jurgen Klopp’s Reds host Bournemouth at Anfield.
Victory would see Liverpool leapfrog Bournemouth and climb further away from the relegation zone, whilst Scott Parker’s Cherries could return to the top ten with a win.
Team News
Curtis Jones could return for Liverpool if he is fit enough as he continues to recover from a calf injury.
Caoimhin Kelleher, Joel Matip (both groin), Ibrahima Konate (knee), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Diogo Jota (both hamstring), Thiago Alcantara (thigh), Darwin Nunez (suspension), Naby Keita and Calvin Ramsay (both unspecified) are ruled out.
Bournemouth could welcome Dominic Solanke back from an ankle injury which has sidelined the striker for the Cherries’ last three matches.
Mark Travers, Chris Mepham, Jefferson Lerma, Jordan Zemura and Kieffer Moore feature amongst nine players looking for a recall to the starting line-up, having been left out of Bournemouth’s midweek Carabao Cup victory at Norwich.
Jamal Lowe (illness) is a doubt but Ryan Fredericks (calf), Joe Rothwell (quad), Junior Stanislas (groin) and David Brooks (fitness) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their last seven meetings against Bournemouth (W6, D1).
- Bournemouth have claimed just one point from their last five Premier League visits to Anfield (D1, L4).
- Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has scored eight goals in six appearances against Bournemouth (W6).
- Salah has scored two goals from only three shots on target this season for Liverpool.
- Bournemouth are looking to avoid suffering three consecutive defeats without scoring for the first time since a four-match run between late December 2019 – mid January 2020.
Prediction
After three strong seasons, something has gone seriously wrong for Liverpool because even accounting for their injury crisis, they were just outclassed in their defeat at Man Utd last week with a lack of pace and lacklustre defence to boot.
Jurgen Klopp though can take heart from the fact that his team is of high quality so will be able to bounce back once their injury crisis is over, yet they still need to be registering wins by hook or crook if they’re to get into the title fight.
Bournemouth meanwhile have had a fairly brutal start with Manchester City and Arsenal in their last two games, yet their defensive tactics have been ripped to shreds pretty quickly so I do worry for them here no matter what Mark Travers does in goal with his excellent performances.
As for what sort of impact their midweek performance will have on this match, I honestly don’t see much impact given that a much-changed team was fielded, in order to ensure that the first-team regulars are freshly prepared for this tough challenge.
Quite frankly if I was in charge of Bournemouth, I would just view this game now as a free hit given Liverpool’s woes and inability to live with teams who play aggressive pressing football and just go for it.
This game however feels like Liverpool’s to lose given their head-to-head form and it wouldn’t surprise me if they somehow scrape a win.
Prediction: Liverpool 1-0 Bournemouth
Result: Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth
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