Bournemouth vs Liverpool news: Impressive Cherries to test Arne Slot’s league leaders
High-flying Bournemouth will be looking for another prize scalp when they host Premier League leaders Liverpool on Saturday, but the Reds could be a giant too far for one of this season’s surprise packages.
Bournemouth are having a wonderful season and currently find themselves seventh in the Premier League table and eyeing European football next season.
At the same time, Liverpool are purring under new manager Arne Slot, sitting top of the pile with a comfortable lead, and will already be dreaming about the title.
Sports News Blitz writer Jack Burgess previews this weekend’s clash at the Vitality Stadium.
A lot riding on it for both teams
It's a clash many probably underestimated the importance of when the fixtures were released back in June. But it's a match which sees both sides looking to maintain momentum to help achieve historic feats in May.
The home side are the division’s in-form team – unbeaten in 11 and coming into this fixture after back-to-back thrashings of two European contenders Newcastle (1-4 away) and Nottingham Forest (5-0 at home).
It's an impressive run of form which sees the Cherries sit in seventh place on 40 points, just one behind last season's champions Manchester City in fourth.
A win against the title favourites would spur hopes of bringing European football to the Vitality Stadium for the first time in their history – all the more impressive when you consider Bournemouth were playing in League One just 12 years ago.
For Liverpool, this marks the first game in a crucial run of fixtures which sees them take on Everton, Man City, Newcastle, and Spurs – the latter for a place in the Carabao Cup final – all before March.
For the Reds, victory on the South Coast would help maintain momentum for what is a crunch month in the race for number 20.
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A hat-trick of hat-tricks?
After back-to-back hat-tricks from Justin Kluivert and Dango Ouatara for Bournemouth, the Cherries are looking to become the first side in 79 years to have a player score a hat-trick in three games in a row.
The last side to do this? Liverpool in 1946 when Jack Balmer achieved the feat on his own with consecutive hat-tricks against Portsmouth, Derby, and Arsenal.
Surely not?
Liverpool 2015 vs Liverpool 2025
It's just over a year to the day since Jurgen Klopp dropped the bombshell that he would be departing Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Yet, not many Reds would have anticipated that the transition from Klopp to Slot would be as smooth as it has been.
Liverpool sit six points clear at the top of the table and have confirmed themselves as a force to be reckoned with in Europe after confirming top spot in the group stage on Wednesday night.
It is testament to the Dutchman that Klopp hasn't really been mentioned this season.
But Slot will feel like the Liverpool legend is back in the dugout when he faces Andoni Iraola's men on Saturday.
Iraola has got his Bournemouth side purring at the moment with an intense style of play both in and out of possession.
Iraola's men have found success by increasing the tempo of games and making their opponents' lives uncomfortable.
And it's a style that's reflected in the statistics. The Cherries rank first for high turnovers, recoveries, and possession won in the final third – sound familiar Reds fans?
This heavy metal football was on show in their impressive 4-1 win over Newcastle, with Kluivert's second and third goals coming after Newcastle were forced into giving the ball away.
It's an identity that has already upset the big boys this season.
With home wins against Manchester City, Arsenal, and Spurs already in the bag, they are more than capable of making it difficult for the league leaders.
And what's more, the only way is up for the Cherries. Already underperforming their xG by seven goals, they are bound to correct that over the next few months – and they could make up some of the gap against Liverpool…
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Liverpool's bad defensive habit
Despite their success so far this season, Liverpool's defensive record has taken a bit of a nosedive recently.
After conceding six goals in the first 11 league games, the Reds have conceded 14 in their last 11. What's more is that they have conceded from minimal chances in games recently and often early on.
In fact, it's one of the few things Slot complained about after the Lille game, with skipper Virgil van Dijk reiterating that it's something their side needs to improve upon.
For Liverpool, their defence looked to have bucked that trend against Ipswich, only to then concede with one of the last shots of the game instead.
But in all seriousness, the Reds suffocated a struggling Ipswich, with Konate and Alisson both looking back to full sharpness following injuries earlier in the season.
In contrast, Bournemouth are already showing signs of finding their shooting boots, with nine goals from two games in which they created just 4.62 xG.
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Summary – Deja vu?
My prediction is it won't just be Liverpool fans with a sense of deja vu when they face the high-pressing style of Bournemouth at the weekend.
Unless Iraola plays something different, I expect Liverpool's back four to remain calm in the face of the organised maniacal pressure from Bournemouth.
Slot's side have the tactical flexibility and technical ability to either go long and bypass the Bournemouth press or play through it all together.
That's exactly what happened in the reverse 3-0 win for Liverpool at Anfield back in September.
A long ball from Konate saw Luis Diaz open proceedings, whilst the Colombian's second came after the Cherries’ pressing structure was dismantled.
And with the quality of Ryan Gravenberch this season, I expect the latter to cause no problems again for Liverpool.
The Dutchman is so comfortable with his back to proceedings that he probably sat facing away from everyone at Christmas dinner. If he wasn't fussed by the awkwardness of that, I doubt he'd be phased by any pressure from the Bournemouth players.
Of course, the Anfield game would have been completely different had Semenyo's earlier goal not been correctly ruled out for offside.
If Bournemouth can take their chances this time around, like their xG suggests they should do, it could be a different story.
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