Liverpool vs Bournemouth

Anfield is the venue as Liverpool and Bournemouth seek their first victories in the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Liverpool failed to get their Premier League campaign off to a winning start for the second season running, spurning a first-half lead in a dramatic 1-1 win at Chelsea on the opening weekend. Jurgen Klopp’s men will be desperate to return to winning ways against a Bournemouth side who they thumped in a record-matching 9-0 victory in this corresponding fixture in 2022/23. Considering they’ve failed to earn Champions League qualification in the last three Premier League seasons they opened with back-to-back winless matches, nothing less than a win will do. The ‘Reds’ can draw confidence from their stellar home record against Bournemouth, having won their last four top-flight H2Hs at Anfield via an aggregate score of 17-1.

However, Bournemouth avenged an underwhelming seven-game losing H2H run against Liverpool with a stunning 1-0 triumph in their most recent Premier League encounter in March. A similar result at Anfield would be monumental for the visitors, but after losing back-to-back away league games ‘to nil’ at the tail-end of last season, that’s a toll order. New manager AndoniIraola got his managerial tenure off to a decent start, with the ‘Cherries’ coming from behind to hold West Ham to a 1-1 draw on matchday one. Yet, the Spaniard’s former club Rayo Vallecano ended last La Liga season on a disappointing streak of nine winless away matches (D2, L7), testifying to Iraola’s struggle on the road. His defensive-minded football could help Bournemouth show some resilience after conceding a league second-high 41 goals on their Premier League travels in 2022/23.