A.F.C Bournemouth v Liverpool – Match Preview
Liverpool set off to the south coast where they will take on relegation-threatened A.F.C Bournemouth on Saturday lunchtime in the first game of this weekend’s Premier League TV schedule. Should they win, they will be level on points with Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspurs.
Overview
It’s insane how quick things change in football. One day you’re on cloud nine, the next one you’re on the slippery slope. The inconsisency has been a huge issue for Liverpool this season.
Despite the dismal start to the season 2022-23 and wallowing 10th in the table, the Reds are now in hunt for top four. The battle for the Champions League spot is not only down to their resurgence but also to the constant tripping up of their immediate opponents – Tottenham, Newcastle and Brighton.
Liverpool will be full of confidence following two wins last week. This game represents a chance for the Reds to put some daylight between them and their immediate challengers.
Jürgen Klopp’s side have now kept five consecutive Premier League clean sheets. The Merseysiders go into this contest on the back of a stunning 7-0 victory over their bitter rivals Manchester United. They will aim to keep that momentum going on away from home.
Jamie Carragher drinking a can of ‘7UP’… someone’s still buzzing about Sunday’s game 👀😂 pic.twitter.com/17DFtvza0a
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) March 7, 2023
While Liverpool sit fifth in the league table, Bournemouth remain rock-bottom and are facing a relegation battle. They are one of the favourites for finishing in the bottom three come the end of this campaign according to “Opta Analyst”. The Cherries last suffered relagation from the Premier League in 2019-20.
Last weekend Bournemouth were denied a single point taken away from the Emirates Stadium. Gary O’Neil’s outfit have caught Arsenal players’ off guard with a 2-0 lead after 57 minutes.
Notwithstanding that, the London side came from two goals down to secure a vital 3-2 victory. They are currently on a run of two defeats and will hope to end that miserable sequence against Liverpool on Saturday
Head to head
There have been five games between these two teams at the Dean Court stadium (now known as Vitality stadium) in the Premier League era. The Reds have won four and lost just one.
The most recent defeat there came in December 2016. That was a very dramatic clash, Liverpool conceded all points in the injury time courtesy of Nathan Ake’s goal that secured the home side a 4-3 victory.
An emphatic 7-0 thrashing of Man Utd wasn’t the biggest scoreline Jürgen Klopp’s troops have registered this term. The first fixture between these two teams ended in Liverpool’s 9-0 win at Anfield.
That outcome equalled their Premier League’s biggest win for the first time since September 1989.
Liverpool scored 34% of their goals in the Premier League this season in just two matches. 🤯
📆 27 August: Liverpool 9–0 Bournemouth
📆 March 5: Liverpool 7–0 Man Utd pic.twitter.com/9BJFPZANaE
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) March 5, 2023
Team news
Fortunately, there are no new injury concerns for the Reds. It’s been a long time since we last heard such positive news. However, there are still players who work on their return to training with the first team.
Thiago Alcantara (hip), Luis Diaz (knee) and Joe Gomez (muscle) remain sidelined. During the media duties Jürgen Klopp has revealed that none of them took part in the team training.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, will be without Marcus Tavernier and Hamed Traore. Jefferson Lerma will need extra assessment on his fitness after his absence in last week’s defeat at Arsenal.
Despite that they were given a boost with Lewis Cook’s recovery. He will be in contention to face Liverpool.
Summary
It’s been a long time since I was last full of confidence about Liverpool’s win. This time I fully back them. The Reds have won their seven clashes against Bournemouth in all competitions and I don’t see the Cherries ending their record.
Having said that, Liverpool are the favourites heading into this game and have enough quality to pick up an away win. The telepathy between Salah, Gakpo and Nunez was just out of this world against United and I think they will replicate that form on the South Coast but not the effectiveness, thus I say 2-0 to Liverpool.
Bournemouth are set to sit back and rely on counter-attacks. Those attacks can be dangerous and the Merseysiders need to be conscious of it. Having Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence should help stop them from scoring. If so, Liverpool could extend their five back-to-back clean sheet to six.
Follow Karolina on Instagram: @96karolinakurek