After taking part in two of the most exciting Premier League games of the season last week, Bournemouth and Liverpool will resume their campaign on Saturday at noon at the Vitality Stadium.
In a painful 3-2 loss to league leaders Arsenal, the Cherries let a two-goal lead go, while Jurgen Klopp’s ruthless team crushed Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield.
Bournemouth vs Liverpool: The Match Preview
The Cherries’ first move toward escaping peril would be to snap a four-game Premier League losing streak at the Vitality Stadium. Bournemouth have already lost three games this season when leading by two goals, dropping a total of 17 points from winning situations.
Only Leicester City have lost more games while on the rise than Bournemouth, whose nightmares at Anfield would have undoubtedly been set off by seeing their future opponents humiliate Man United in such a stunning way.
Sunday’s annihilation of Manchester United was almost the ideal day for Jurgen Klopp, with Mohamed Salah becoming their all-time Premier League leading scorer, Roberto Firmino scoring an emotional seventh goal, and Cody Gakpo demonstrating to his former supporters what they are missing.
The Reds manager was allowed to celebrate his team’s finest performance in a “long, long time”, apart from one incident when a supporter risked the safety of Klopp’s players by running onto the field to join the celebrations. The 16-year-old lad has since been detained.
Salah, Gakpo, and Darwin Nunez all scored braces before Firmino, whose impending departure from the club has now been officially announced, made it seventh heaven for the Reds. Tottenham Hotspur’s place in the Champions League spots is now in jeopardy as a result of the Reds’ fifth-place standing, three points behind them with a game in hand.
Although Klopp’s team will soon have to focus on more important tasks, such as trying to overturn a 5-2 Champions League last-16 deficit against Real Madrid, a run of four victories and a draw in their last five Premier League games, along with five clean sheets, is exactly what is needed in the midst of an otherwise disappointing campaign.
The Predicted XI
Bournemouth fans won’t need to be reminded of the 9-0 thrashing they received at Anfield back in August. The Man United faithful can empathize there. That victory marked the Reds’ seventh straight Premier League victory over their South Coast rivals. Klopp’s team have only won one of their last five away games in the top division.
Here is how Liverpool might line up against Bournemouth:
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Elliott, Fabinho, Henderson, Nunez, Gakpo, Salah
With a first-choice backline that has repeatedly displayed resilience in the Premier League and a new-look front three that is beginning to mesh, Liverpool should encounter little obstruction on the way to an easy three points.
