Preview: Bournemouth vs Liverpool - prediction, team news, lineups

Still searching for their first Premier League victory of 2026, Liverpool head south to battle Bournemouth in Saturday's 5.30pm kickoff.

The Reds return to British shores on the back of a 3-0 Champions League romping of Marseille, two days after the Cherries' 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Match preview

Despite being starved of Premier League success since their 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the end of 2025, Liverpool remain in pole position for a spot in the 2026-27 Champions League thanks to the failures of other outfits around them.

However, a pitiful 1-1 draw with Burnley last weekend - the Reds' fourth Premier League stalemate in succession - allowed Manchester United and Chelsea to reduce the gap to one and two points respectively, while Brentford, Newcastle United and Sunderland are also within just three points of the fourth-placed visitors.

Never before have Liverpool played out five successive Premier League draws - not since 1980 have they shared the spoils in five straight top-flight matches - and last weekend's frustrating stalemate with the Clarets reignited speculation surrounding Slot's future.

Such talk has - for now - been quelled thanks to the Reds' comfortable Champions League success over Marseille, which extended the Premier League champions' unbeaten streak in all competitions to an applaudable 13 matches.

No team in Europe's big five leagues is on a longer run without defeat than Liverpool, who have also won or drawn each of their last 10 Premier League games and have not lost on the road since November's 3-0 beating vs. Manchester City.

Unlike their more esteemed visitors, Bournemouth are off the mark in 2026 in terms of Premier League wins, but the Cherries are 11 places and nine points worse off in the top-flight table amid their prolonged plight.

Only Tottenham Hotspur have fallen victim to Bournemouth's superiority since the start of November, giving Andoni Iraola's men just one win from their last 14 matches in all competitions after Monday's agonising stalemate at the Amex.

Marcus Tavernier's penalty would seemingly be enough to take down Brighton, but teenage talent Charalampos Kostoulas produced a moment of magic with an injury-time bicycle kick to deny the Cherries just their second away success of the season.

Nevertheless, the 15th-placed hosts are still closer to the top four than the relegation zone points-wise, but that may be of little consolation to a fanbase who are also mourning the loss of Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City.

Furthermore, Liverpool's 4-2 triumph over Bournemouth in the first Premier League game of the season marked their 12th victory from 13 top-flight matches against the Cherries, who have also conceded a staggering 52 goals to the visitors in the competition, their joint-most against a single club alongside Man City.

Bournemouth Premier League form:

Bournemouth form (all competitions):

Liverpool Premier League form:

Liverpool form (all competitions):

Team News

The only blot on the Liverpool fitness notebook in midweek was an injury to Federico Chiesa, who sustained an unspecified issue in Tuesday's training session and was unable to feature against Marseille, despite taking part in the warm-up.

Whether Chiesa's issue is serious enough to rule him out of Saturday's showdown remains to be seen, but the Reds welcomed Mohamed Salah back into the first XI right away on Wednesday following his Africa Cup of Nations exploits.

The 33-year-old should now be primed for his first Premier League start since November 22, but Alexander Isak (calf), Conor Bradley (knee) and Giovanni Leoni (knee) remain on the sidelines.

Ibrahima Konate was also absent in midweek due to personal reasons, but the Frenchman should be back available for the trip south.

Speaking of fresh attacking injuries, Bournemouth lost both Tavernier and Amine Adli to physical issues in their draw with Brighton, and Iraola has admitted that the former will be out for "some time" with a hamstring problem.

Tavernier joins Will Dennis (ankle), Enes Unal (groin), David Brooks (ankle), Tyler Adams (knee), Ben Gannon-Doak (thigh) and Justin Kluivert (knee) in the infirmary, but Adli will seemingly be fine to feature.

The Cherries have already put their Semenyo money to good use by sealing a £10.4m deal for 20-year-old Hungarian midfielder Alex Toth, who is likely to be on the bench on Saturday.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Scott, Cook; Jimenez, Kroupi, Adli; Evanilson

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike

We say: Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool

Each of Bournemouth's last eight games have seen the Cherries both score and concede, and that trend is likely to continue against a fatigued but also Salah-reinforced Liverpool side.

The Reds traditionally struggle against low-block teams, but that is not Iraola's philosophy, and Slot's side should both generate chances and put them away to earn their first top-flight win of the New Year.

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