Liverpool will be aiming to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League as they travel to the Vitality Stadium to face Bournemouth on Sunday in a game which kicks off at 16:30.
Following a solid first half of their season, Bournemouth are currently sitting in 12th place in the Premier League and have a nine point buffer between themselves and the relegation zone. Iraola’s side have picked up 25 points from their opening 19 league outings following 7 wins, 4 draws and 8 defeats.
In recent months, the cherries have shown some impressive form and have only lost one of their last nine games in all competitions. Furthermore, Bournemouth have won four of their past five league matches. This run has included impressive victories over Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Fulham.
Last time that they were in action, Bournemouth came from two goals behind to defeat Queen’s park rangers and secure their safe passage into the fourth round of the FA Cup. Goals came from Marcus Tavernier, Kieffer Moore and Justin Kluivert.
Jurgen Klopp’s side come into this weekend’s game on the back of a highly impressive run of form in the Premier League which has seen the Reds go thirteen games in the league without defeat.
This run of form has left Liverpool sitting at the top of the Premier League with a two point gap between Manchester City behind them. The Reds have amassed 45 points from their opening 20 Premier league games following 13 wins, 6 draws and just one defeat.
Liverpool have not featured in league action since they defeated Newcastle 4-2 on new year's day. This victory came in exciting fashion thanks to a brace from Mo Salah and further goals from Cody Gakpo and Curtis Jones.
The history of this fixture has been dominated by Liverpool who have only been defeated on two occasions. In total, the two sides have met on 21 occasions, with Liverpool having won 16, there being three draws and Bournemouth having won just twice.
These sides have already clashed on two occasions this season, with Liverpool coming out victorious on both occasions. In the reverse fixture in the Premier League, the Reds came out on top thanks to goals from Diaz, Salah and Jota as the game finished 3-1.
When these sides met in the League Cup in November, it was Liverpool who came out on top in similar fashion as they defeated the Cherries 2-1 thanks to goals from Nunez and Gakpo.
Unsurprisingly, it is Liverpool who are heavily favoured at the bookie ahead of this matchup and are currently priced @ 4/6, whilst an upset victory for Bournemouth is priced @ 7/2 and a draw is currently @ 16/5.
We are backing Liverpool to win and both teams to score. Given the pairing of Liverpool’s excellent form with their historical domination of this fixture, it is hard to envisage them not picking up all the points this weekend.
We believe that it is likely that both teams will score as Bournemouth have already proved that they can score against Liverpool this season as they netted in both meetings of the sides. Furthermore, Bournemouth have not failed to score in any of their last thirteen games in all competitions.