Premier League: Arne’s Reds are Going Cherry Picking

Bournemouth vs Liverpool

It sounds like a nice afternoon doesn’t it? But the reality may not be such a breeze for Premier League leaders Liverpool when they head south to face Bournemouth this weekend.

Ten points from the last four games have lifted Andoni Iraola’s Cherries up to seventh place and just one point behind Manchester City in fourth. Last week Bournemouth hammered high flying Nottingham Forest 5-0 while Liverpool slapped Ipswich Town 4-1. But the Reds were in Champions League action away to PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night and lost 3-2 with a much changed team.

Arne Slot’s Liverpool still finished top of the Champions League table and they lead the Premier League by six points, with a game in hand; but this could be the biggest test they have had in a while.          

 

Talking Points

Same again for Bournemouth

The Cherries have put together a superb set of Premier League 2025 results over the past few weeks but the way they cut down Nottingham Forest was hugely impressive and Iraola is likely to name the same eleven who started that game for the visit of Liverpool. Dango Ouattara scored his first senior hat-trick last week and the 22 year old is set to keep hold of the centre forward spot with the red hot Justin Kluivert, who has 11 goals and four assists in the league this season, sitting just behind. David Brooks and Antoine Semenyo will play on the flanks in a side which has scored 16 goals in the last four games. And attacking midfielder Luis Sinisterra has recovered from a hamstring strain and he should make the squad and will be a good impact substitute if needed.       

Hungarian defender Milos Kerkez has been on Liverpool’s radar and he’ll be part of the Cherries back four while keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga continues to impress on loan from Chelsea.

 

All change for Liverpool

At SBOTOP odds of 1.66 to beat Bournemouth, the Reds should maintain their gap at the top of the table and with Arsenal at home to Manchester City on Sunday there is a good chance of them increasing their lead over the Gunners. But, while the Premier League 2025 betting odds say the title is Liverpool’s to lose, Slot will task his team to be relentless in the run in, starting on the South coast on Saturday.

The manager made nine changes for the trip to Eindhoven and one of his regular first team picks, Cody Gakpo, scored in his homeland. And he’ll probably start again against the Cherries, as will wing-back Andy Robertson, who captained the Reds on their trip to the Netherlands. The big guns of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis MacAllister will return into the midfield alongside Ryan Gravenberch; meanwhile keeper Alisson, alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate will make up the back four.

And in attack Luis Diaz and league leading scorer Mo Salah are sure to line up alongside Gakpo. All three are in superb form but Egyptian goal machine Salah is grabbing the headlines at the moment. His 19^th goal of the league season, in the 4-1 win over Ipswich, took Salah to 176 and past Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and just one goal behind Chelsea’s Frank Lampard. That Salah has scored so many goals and is ahead of the likes of Erling Haaland this season is more remarkable when you consider he has spent much of his career on the flank; and, at 32 years of age, he is as good as ever. Salah hasn’t had the best of luck against the Cherries in recent meetings with just one goal from his last five games and he’ll be determined to put that right on Sunday                  

 

History

The Reds have totally bossed this relationship since Bournemouth joined the top tier with 16 wins from the last 19 games, one draw and two losses, and when the two teams met at Anfield in September a brace from Luis Diaz and a beauty of a curler from Darwin Nunez blew the visitors away before half time.   

But get this, in terms of recent form the Cherries have done better than Slot’s rampant Reds with four wins and two draws from the last six games while Liverpool have won four, drawn one and lost one. But Liverpool’s away record in the Premier League has been superb, with eight wins and three draws on the road.

 

Betting Tip

At odds of 3.92 to win and 3.71 to draw the Cherries are right in this game and they will be full of confidence when they meet the league leaders. Bournemouth were dreaming big before they met Forest and now they are on the crest of a wave. 

If they can get something from the league leaders Iraola’s team may well climb higher than seventh and I see this as a game in which both teams will score; so for an alternative bet a 2-2 draw is priced at 12.52.

   

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