Liverpool vs Bournemouth

Liverpool will look to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they lock horns with bottom-half Bournemouth at Anfield.

Arne Slot’s dream start to life at Anfield suffered a significant mental blow last weekend as minnows Nottingham Forest stunned this stadium with a narrow 1-0 win, ending Liverpool’s three-game winning Premier League start. However, the Reds thrived in the face of adversity, overturning an early deficit to beat AC Milan 3-1 in their opening Champions League fixture to set themselves up nicely for this fixture. A phenomenal display at San Siro must have renewed Liverpool’s optimism ahead of this clash, where they face the risk of losing back-to-back home league outings for the first time since March 2021. With that in mind, Bournemouth’s visit is more than welcome, considering the Merseyside heavyweights have triumphed in ten of the last 11 meetings between the two teams (L1), racking up an incredible aggregate score of 37-3 in those ten wins.

On the other hand, Bournemouth shot themselves in the foot last weekend, with Evanilson spurning a first-half penalty before Christopher Nkunku’s 86th-minute winner inspired Chelsea to a 1-0 win at the Vitality Stadium. Leaving the comforts of their home could be a blessing in disguise for Andoni Iraola’s men, who fought back from a two-goal deficit to beat Everton 3-2 on their most recent Premier League travel. However, that result remains their only success across their last eight games (D2, L5). In a sea of bad omens, one stands out – the Cherries have suffered as many as 25 defeats across their previous 29 Premier League encounters against sides starting the round in the top four (W2, D2). That’s not to mention they’ve lost on their last five visits to Anfield by a combined score of 19-2.