Liverpool are back in action today for the first time since last Sunday’s 7-0 drubbing of Manchester United, a result which means Jurgen Klopp is unlikely to tinker with his starting-XI to a great degree.
The Reds make the trip to the south coast to face bottom club Bournemouth in the knowledge that another win will take them into the top four for a few hours at least until Tottenham play later this afternoon.
The Merseyside club stuck nine goals past today’s opponents without reply in the reverse fixture in August, and although a repeat scoreline at the Vitality Stadium seems most improbable, the visitors will still expect to make it five wins out of six in the Premier League over the past month.
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Ever-present in the top flight this season and enjoying a run of five successive clean sheets, Alisson Becker’s place in goal is as safe as houses.
That latter statistic should also see a continuation of the Liverpool back four which started against United, with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate looking a rock-solid centre-back partnership of late.
The experienced duo of Jordan Henderson and the resurgent Fabinho keep their places in midfield, although there could be one change in this department.
Stefan Bajcetic had to be content with a late appearance off the bench at Anfield six days ago, but today he could get the nod ahead of fellow teenager Harvey Elliott following that relative breather.
The front three will surely remain unchanged, with Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez each scoring twice in the rout of United and all capable of wreaking havoc on Bournemouth’s defence in current form.
The standout injury news from Klopp in Friday’s pre-match press conference (via Liverpool’s official website) is that Thiago Alcantara (hip), Luis Diaz (knee) and Joe Gomez (muscle) remain unavailable.
EOTK’s predicted XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson, Fabinho, Bajcetic, Henderson, Salah, Gakpo, Nunez
Predicted stats