Bournemouth are seeking back-to-back wins when they face Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday afternoon as they hunt for a surprise finish in the top half of the Premier League table.
Liverpool, who are unbeaten in their last two league matches, will head to the south coast in an elevated mood having come from behind to beat Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday evening.
Bournemouth
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Given the dramatic nature of the Premier League title race, Eddie Howe's achievements with Bournemouth this season have been slightly overlooked.
The Cherries earned promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history last summer, and many tipped the club to be fighting relegation in the closing stages of the campaign, but they are doing quite the opposite.
Howe and his men could finish the season in the top half of the standings as they are currently 11th in the table, just three points behind 10th-placed Chelsea with five games left to play.
After suffering a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and then a 4-0 loss to Manchester City, Alan Shearer claimed that the Bournemouth players looked as though they were already on their holidays.
Howe insisted that his players were still focused on their fixture schedule and they proved that by earning a 2-1 win over lowly Aston Villa last weekend.
Prior to their defeats to Spurs and Man City, Bournemouth had an unbeaten run of four league matches, drawing one and winning three, which came against Southampton, Newcastle United and Swansea City.
The Cherries have more than proven that they belong in the top flight given that they are 13 points above the relegation zone and have reached that all-important 40-point mark with five games left to play.
They are also the fourth most in-form team in the top flight having taken 12 points from their last six games.
Only Leicester City, Swansea City and Liverpool are in better league form than the Cherries, who have have scored the most goals (8) within the first 15 minutes of any team in the league.
Bournemouth face a tough task against the Reds this weekend, but their high-energy play may cause trouble for Jurgen Klopp's side, who are bound to have some tired legs following their European exploits.
Recent form: WWWLLW
Liverpool
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Klopp guided his Liverpool team to one of the most dramatic European comebacks in history on Thursday night at Anfield.
The Reds twice needed three goals in order to oust Borussia Dortmund, and they managed to do so by coming from 3-1 down to win the quarter-final second leg 4-3 and 5-4 on aggregate.
Divock Origi, Philippe Coutinho and Mamadou Sakho scored to keep the tie alive, and Dejan Lovren netted the winning header in the 91st minute to send Liverpool into the semi-finals.
The game brought back memories of old European nights at Anfield, but Klopp and his players do not have long to savour the moment as they are back in action on Sunday.
As mentioned, there could be a few tired legs and tired minds within the squad as the players put in maximum work rate and energy against Dortmund.
The Europa League remains Liverpool's only real opportunity of success this season as they are out of the FA Cup and are nine points off the top four with seven games left to play.
Everything is rosy in Europe, and it is not so bad in terms of league form for Liverpool either as they have only lost once in their last seven games in the top flight.
Klopp's men have drawn two and wom four, the most recent of which was a 4-1 victory over Stoke City at Anfield.
With regards to Liverpool's away form, only three teams currently have a better record on the road as the Merseyside outfit have won seven and drawn three in their 16 away fixtures.
A negative for the club, though, is that they have only won two games after a European midweek fixture in eight attempts. However, it is worth noting that the second triumph occurred last weekend against Stoke.
Recent form: WWWLDW
Recent form (all competitions): DLDDWW
Team News
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Benik Afobe is a doubt for Bournemouth as he nurses a hamstring injury, but it is worse news for Harry Arter, who is in danger of missing Euro 2016 with an ankle injury.
Adam Smith and Tyrone Mings remain sidelined with a hernia and knee injury respectively, but other than that, Howe has a relatively fit squad to select from.
As for Liverpool, Emre Can, who left Anfield on crutches last night after getting injured against Dortmund, was already ruled out of the game as he serves the second of a two-match suspension.
The rest of Klopp's team ended their Europa League game unscathed, while Jordan Henderson, Christian Benteke and Danny Ings remain long-term absentees.
The German coach started Divock Origi over Daniel Sturridge in both games against Dortmund, but the latter is likely to return to the starting lineup this weekend, much like he did against Stoke.
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Boruc; Francis, Elphick, Cook, Daniels; Ritchie, Surman, Gosling, Gradel; King, Grabban
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Sakho, Flanagan; Milner, Allen; Ojo, Coutinho, Lallana; Sturridge
Head To Head
In the eight times that Liverpool and Bournemouth have played one another competitively, the Reds have never suffered defeat having won six and drawn two.
The Merseyside outfit have only managed to claim slender 1-0 wins of late, though, as they defeated Bournemouth with that scoreline in both the league and the Capital One Cup at Anfield.
The Cherries have struggled to find the back of the net against Liverpool as they have managed four goals in eight games, and not once have they scored more than a single goal in a match against their opponents.
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We say: Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool
Thursday's Europa League win would have taken a lot out of Liverpool, but winning breeds confidence, and they will head to the Vitality Stadium on Sunday with plenty of that. Bournemouth play expansive, high-energy football and they will try to exploit those tired legs with their own pace. With the home crowd behind them, the Cherries are likely to score against Liverpool, but Klopp's men should see it through and collect all three points.
Danielle Joynson
