3 days ago
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Adam Smith and Virgil van Dijk lead their teams out into the rain at the Vitality Stadium. This should be fast-paced on a wet surface. Kick-off is upon us.
Almost by stealth, Liverpool have put an unbeaten run together of 13 games. The 4-1 humbling by PSV was their last defeat in any competition.
Liverpool’s unbeaten run:
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Games: 13
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Wins: 7
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Draws: 6
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Goals scored per game: 1.77
Next five:
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Bournemouth (a)
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Qarabag (h)
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Newcastle (h)
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Manchester City (h)
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Sunderland (a)
There’s been plenty of late drama in the Premier League so far today. These are all full-time results:
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West Ham 3-1 Sunderland
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Burnley 2-2 Tottenham
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Fulham 2-1 Brighton
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Manchester City 2-0 Wolves
Nobody has scored more goals against Bournemouth in Premier League history than Mohamed Salah. He’s got 12 in 12 games against them, including two last season in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at the Vitality. The mood was a little different this time last year.
And he got the fourth in that thrilling 4-2 win at Anfield on the opening night of this season after Federico Chiesa, who misses today’s game through injury, scored late on.
Bournemouth could hand a debut to the Hungary midfielder Alex Toth, who is on the bench after joining from Ferencvaros for £10.4m. this week.
You can track the latest transfer deals across Europe on our interactive page:
It is the same Liverpool back four that started against Marseille in midweek. Ibrahima Konaté remains on compassionate leave after the death of his father, so Virgil van Dijk is partnered by Joe Gomez again.
Jeremie Frimpong continues at right-back with Conor Bradley out long-term and Milos Kerkez starts ahead of Andy Robertson on his return to his former club.
Team news: Salah starts, Robertson on bench
Marcus Tavernier misses out for Bournemouth after he picked up a hamstring injury against Brighton on Monday. Adam Smith comes into the XI at right-back, with Álex Jiménez moving further forward.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Scott, Cook; Jiménez, Kroupi, Adli; Evanilson.
Subs: Forster, Christie, Diakite, Unal, Toth, Milosavljevic, Sadi, Rees-Dottin, DaCosta.
Mohamed Salah makes his first Premier League appearance since returning from Afcon, while Andy Robertson is on the Liverpool bench after Tottenham opened talks to sign him this week. Cody Gakpo leads the line in place of Hugo Ekitiké.
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Frimpong, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Gakpo.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Endo, Jones, Ekitiké, Robertson, Nyoni, Ramsay, Ngumoha.
Referee: Michael Salisbury (Lancashire)
Preamble
Hello and welcome. Wednesday’s trip to Marseille was a success for Liverpool. Bar one hell of a shock at home to Qarabag next week, Arne Slot’s team are on their way to the last 16 in Europe. At home, though, qualifying for next season’s Champions League is perhaps the best Liverpool can hope for. After a mini revival in December, the defending champions haven’t won a Premier League game in 2026 (four draws) and are therefore now looking over their shoulder.
Liverpool remain fourth in the table but just six points separate them and teams in the bottom half. Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle are in that pack and play tomorrow.
Bournemouth might have expected to be challenging for the European places after their fast start to the season but they’ve won just once since October and are seven points clear of the drop zone. Andoni Iraola is still getting to grips with the Antoine Semenyo-shaped hole in his team since the forward’s sale to Manchester City.
Kick-off at the Vitality Stadium is 5.30pm (GMT) and I’ll bring you team news shortly. Feel free to email in with your thoughts on the game.
