Bournemouth vs Liverpool: Premier League preview, confirmed line-ups, how to watch on TV and prediction

Bournemouth vs Liverpool match preview

Liverpool will go nine points clear at the top of the Premier League if they win at the form team in the table over the last 11 matches on Saturday (3pm GMT).

Bournemouth have taken three points more than the Reds across those games, winning seven times to move a point shy of fourth place.

“It’s a big challenge,” said Liverpool manager Arne Slot, revealing how he admired Andoni Iraola’s Cherries when they lost 3-0 at Anfield on September 21.

“This is probably going to sound strange [but] I knew [they were good] when we played the second half against them in our home game.

“We were 3-0 up at half-time and I was expecting a second half where we could just control the game, have the ball a bit and maybe score the fourth one.

A special Salah showing on the south coast 🇪🇬👑 #BOULIV ’18 pic.twitter.com/jFLmYWyLlV

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 31, 2025

“But they just kept on going at us for 45 minutes, and that showed me the character of the team. Since then they have been outstanding. They were before that game.”

Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook knows they are likely to “need to do what we do best” when they attempt to become the first Premier League team to beat Liverpool at home this season.

“We need to be aggressive, front-foot and try and take the game to them,” elaborated Cook, who has worn the captain’s armband while Adam Smith is injured.

“They’re a similar team to us in that respect and won’t stop until the final whistle, so there’s going to be a lot of distance covered by both teams.

“We’ve got players that can change the game in an instant. “[Our fans are] very hopeful, which is what football is about: they should be the ones dreaming about finishing as high as we can.”

Getting ready for our big test tomorrow 💪 pic.twitter.com/uEyL1Tph82

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) January 31, 2025

Bournemouth vs Liverpool team news

Iraola expects to have the same squad to choose from as he did for Bournemouth’s 5-0 home win over Nottingham Forest last Saturday.

Midfielder Marcus Tavernier returned for that game, but strikers Enes Unal and Evanilson and defenders Marcos Senesi and Julian Araujo are long-term absentees.

Left-back Julio Soler is away with Argentina Under-20s and winger Luis Sinisterra is not yet ready to make a full return from injury.

“The only player that has started doing things with us is Sinisterra, from the ones injured,” Iraola said. “We will assess him [on Friday] but it’s not sure that he will be involved tomorrow.”

Diogo and Darwin both bagged a brace in our last visit to the Vitality Stadium 😮‍💨 #BOULIV pic.twitter.com/Y9ANeM5X89

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 31, 2025

Defender Joe Gomez and forwards Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez could return from injury if they are “far enough” along in their recoveries from illness and injuries.

“That’s something we have to wait and see [on Friday], because we have probably also more than 20 players available,” the Dutchman added.

Attacker Federico Chiesa played his first 90 minutes for Liverpool in their 3-2 defeat at PSV in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Slot is certain to make a large number of changes from that game, having rested most of his first-team players with qualification for the last 16 secured.

THREE nominees in the #PL‘s Goal of the Month for January 👏

Which one of these three stunners is your favourite? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/PBM9CLr8t9

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) January 30, 2025

Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, defenders Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold, midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch and forwards Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah all remained in Liverpool.

“That doesn’t give us any guarantees for Saturday, but it hopefully will help us during the upcoming three or four months,” said Slot. “Hopefully that will help them stay fresh for the upcoming months.”

Bournemouth vs Liverpool confirmed line-ups

Bournemouth starting XI: Kepa, Cook, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez, Christie, Adams, Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo, Ouattara

Liverpool starting XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Salah, Gakpo, Diaz

How to watch Bournemouth vs Liverpool: Live stream, TV channel

Bournemouth vs Liverpool is not being broadcast live in the UK.

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Bournemouth vs Liverpool prediction

After ending Forest’s nine-match run without defeat in emphatic style, Bournemouth are unlikely to be intimidated by Liverpool’s unbeaten stretch in the league since their surprise home defeat to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side on September 14.

Bournemouth’s two defeats in their 12 home games in 2024/25 have also been unfortunate, starting with a 1-0 loss to Chelsea despite having seven of the 10 attempts on target between the teams.

They were beaten 3-2 by Brighton & Hove Albion at the Vitality Stadium on November 13 but almost snatched a draw at the death when Antoine Semenyo’s free-kick struck the crossbar.

Liverpool will clearly be wary of Justin Kluivert, whose five goals in his last three games included a hat-trick in a 4-1 win at Newcastle, but Semenyo, Dango Ouattara and David Brooks have also been on the scoresheet since the start of December, among Bournemouth’s array of attacking midfielders.

The runaway leaders only dropped two away points before the start of December but have been held on each of their last two trips to teams in the top half of the table, falling behind at Forest and Newcastle.

Bournemouth can continue that sequence and strengthen their ambitions of qualifying for European football in a 2-2 draw.