BOURNEMOUTH VS. LIVERPOOL
| Sunday, September 20th |
Premier League | Vitality Stadium
2:00PM BST/9:00AM EST
Andoni Iraola returns to his old stomping grounds on Sunday when Liverpool head to Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth. It’s the last game before the international break, so they’ll want to end September with a win.
The beginning of the Iraola era has been slow-going but generally positive. The team has yet to register a loss in any competition, though three early draws have left them in 10th place going into this
week. Thankfully, a victory could see them jump as high as fourth, though fifth or sixth are the more likely outcomes.
A league 0-0 draw at home to Fulham was sandwiched between victories in both the Champions League and Carabao Cup.
From Bournemouth’s side, they haven’t yet earned a victory in the league, notching three draws and an opening day loss to Manchester City. They sit in 16th place now, but it’s early enough in the season and margins are thin enough that a victory on Sunday could potentially see them leap over Liverpool in the rankings. Where they have had success is in their first European competition. Bournemouth, guided by Iraola, made it into the Europa League, and on Thursday they traveled to Spain and beat Real Sociedad 2-1.
Of course, with European football comes the problem of tired legs and effective team management and rotation. Will Marco Rose’s Cherries handle the Thursday to Sunday turnaround, including travel time?
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-2-3-1)
Alisson; Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister; Gakpo, Wirtz, Barcola; Isak
There are no new injuries to report for Liverpool, thank goodness. This means that the absentees continue to be just Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Federico Chiesa. Jeremy Jacquet, Alisson Becker, and Virgil van Dijk were all rested in the cup match against Tottenham in midweek and should be back in the defense on Sunday.
For Bournemouth, injuries include Eli Kroupi, Amine Adli, Veljko Milosavljevic, and Julian Araujo.
The Managers Have Their Say
Andoni Iraola: “From a personal side, I’m really looking forward to see them, players that I love and staff I enjoyed working with. I wish them all the best, but we need to go there and beat them and be as ruthless as possible.”
Marco Rose: “He left the club in top shape and that’s what I knew. That’s what I got when I came here – a top team with top staff. Everyone is professional and keen to work hard to be successful. We started with good performances, showed how we want to play, and a lot of things we maintained. Now it’s about getting our own things into the team. He will get a warm welcome for sure, but Bournemouth want to win the game.”
The Officials
Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistants: Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring. Fourth official: Simon Hooper. VAR: Craig Pawson. Assistant VAR: Lee Betts.
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