Premier League: An Expected Home Cooking Awaits at Anfield

Liverpool vs Bournemouth

The Reds return to Premier League action this weekend as Liverpool host Bournemouth on Saturday.

Arne Slot’s side are coming off a huge 3-1 win over AC Milan in the Champions League after conceding to the home team in the third minute. But what was looking like the Merseyside outfit’s second consecutive defeat under their new boss turned to triple delight in the end.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate made sure that the Reds would come out of San Siro with all three points, putting the loss against Nottingham Forest behind them.

“Losing Saturday was a blow and to be 1-0 down early tonight, you are wondering how we react,” Slot said after the match.

Meanwhile, the visitors suffered their first loss in the early Premier League season in a match they probably deserved at least a point for, after a losing trip to Stamford Bridge last time out.

The Cherries had their fair chances in the game, firing 19 shots—seven of which were on target.

Marcus Tavernier, Justin Kluivert, Evanilson and Ryan Christie all had golden opportunities to put Bournemouth ahead, but luck wasn’t in their favour that night.

They eventually conceded in the 86^th minute courtesy of a Christopher Nkunku goal.

 

Talking Points

Slot wary of the missteps against Forest

The Reds, under the management of Arne Slot, have started out strong, be it in the league or otherwise.

Seven goals in their first three Premier League matches—whilst not conceding any—which included a 3-0 dismantling of rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford, and the Merseyside club were up and running.

Defeating a famous foe in AC Milan in the Champions League is also a telltale sign that the club are headed in the right direction.

But despite their strong start so far, they will rue losing their 100 per cent record under Slot in that 1-0 home defeat against Nottingham Forest—the visitors’ first win at Anfield in 55 years.

A win and a clean sheet would’ve also meant that Slot would be the first manager in Premier League history to reign victorious in his first four matches without letting a goal past his team.

Speaking to the press, Slot did not pin the loss to the international break, citing his team was lively throughout the match.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with it. Players came back strong and I saw today also a team that wanted to fight until the end. So it had nothing to do with energy,” he said.

He also acknowledged mistakes that led to their downfall in the match.

“We lost the ball so many times in simple situations. We only managed to create three of four big chances, by far not enough.”

Luckily for them, things turned out well in Milan.

 

Bournemouth’s £40 million man yet to break his duck

Following Dominic Solanke’s departure to Tottenham, Brazilian forward Evanilson was brought in by the Cherries to be their man up front.

A club record of £40 million was paid to Porto in order to secure his goalscoring services. But it’s been a slow start to his life in Bournemouth, and his slump has a high chance of continuing when they face Liverpool next.

Out of all the big chances Bournemouth had against Chelsea, none was bigger than Evanilson’s penalty attempt—which he won himself—that was saved by Robert Sanchez.

He’s now three games into his Cherries career and is yet to find the back of the net.

Regardless, team boss Andoni Iraola remains hopeful and content with what his striker has to offer.

“I will not value his performance because he has scored. He has had a lot of chances. He created the penalty and he has been very good. He wants to score for sure but I will not focus on this. I am very happy with his performance.”

 

History

The past results between Liverpool and Bournemouth haven’t been favourable to the latter. Out of 22 matches played, they were only able to win twice (once in 2016 and 2023), losing 17 times in the process; three other games ended in a stalemate.

Both clubs met thrice last season, with Liverpool winning all three by a 9-2 aggregate score.

 

Betting Tip

Let’s not kid ourselves in this one. This a straightforward affair, and it will be extremely shocking to see Liverpool lose. But if the Cherries can pull off a Forest type of win, then the SBOTOP Premier League 2024 odds price them at 7.60 and you can pray to your lucky stars that they may sniff an upset.

A draw is priced at 5.50, but even I won’t touch that one. My advice? All in on the heavy favourites.

In other Premier League 2024 updates, Harvey Elliott is still out with an injury, whilst Federico Chiesa is still working on being match-fit. Kepa Arrizabalaga is also most likely to start after Premier League rules forced him out against Chelsea.

Anyhow, all in on Liverpool. Do not waste your cash.

   

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