The State of Play
It has been a genuinely impressive few months for AFC Bournemouth as they move into the middle-of-the-table. The Cherries came from behind to defeat Queens Park Rangers by three goals to one in the third round of the FA Cup a couple of weeks ago. They were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur just before the New Year and they have suffered just one loss in their last nine matches across all competitions.
Liverpool are seeking an unlikely quadruple as they lead their EFL Cup semi-final tie against Fulham, have an FA Cup fourth round tie against Norwich City at Anfield and they are in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League. The Reds are leading the Premier League at the moment with just one loss in their 20 matches and they have enjoyed four successive victories since sharing a 1-1 draw with Arsenal before Christmas.
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Team News
Andoni Iraola has confirmed a couple of key injury issues for this weekend’s visit of Liverpool. He has said that both Milos Kerkez and Adam Smith will be unavailable, whilst Lloyd Kelly is also a doubt for this weekend.
Mohamed Salah has picked up an injury whilst with the Egyptian national team but he is still at AFCON anyway. Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Joel Matip are among those that remain unavailable for Jurgen Klopp’s men, too.
Expected Line-ups
Bournemouth: Neto; Aarons, Zabarnyi, Mepham, Tavernier; Cook, Scott; Christie, Billing, Sinisterra; Moore
Liverpool: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Jones; Diaz, Nunez, Gakpo
What they Said
Andoni Iraola has commented upon recent outgoings out the Vitality Stadium with Joe Rothwell and Hamed Junior Traore moving to Southampton and Napoli on loan respectively. “These moves are good for both parties… they both needed more minutes.”
Jurgen Klopp has suggested some of his injured players will return soon but not in time for the trip down south. “But after Bournemouth, maybe for Fulham, we will see how the boys do. But they are close. Trent close, Dom close, Robbo close. All going in the right direction, that’s all positive, but for the weekend’s game, no.”
When and How to Watch
The game at the Vitality Stadium will kick off at 16:30 on Sunday January 21st and will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK. Subscribers to Sky Sports can alternately stream the game online via the ‘Sky Go’ app.
Prediction
Andoni Iraola’s impressive and attacking style of football has led to AFC Bournemouth’s rise up to the middle-of-the-table. The Cherries play on the front foot with intense pressing and they have scored three goals in a game in four of their last five matches across all competitions. Liverpool are not quite as gung-ho as their early season form suggested but they perhaps do remain a side that lack a certain amount of control so a high-scoring thriller on Sunday afternoon would appear quite likely.
