Bournemouth v Liverpool: Preview, expected line-ups, stats and where to watch

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola returns to the Vitality Stadium on Sunday when Liverpool take on Bournemouth. Read our in-depth preview here...

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Bournemouth v Liverpool: Preview, expected line-ups, stats and where to watch

Premier League, Round 5

Bournemouth BOU

20/09/2026 14:00

Liverpool LIV

: Vitality Stadium
: Michael Oliver

Preview for Bournemouth v Liverpool

Andoni Iraola is expecting a difficult game against a “dangerous” Bournemouth team on his return to the Vitality Stadium on Sunday.

Iraola left Bournemouth for Liverpool over the summer after three years on the south coast and will make an emotional first trip back to his former stomping ground this weekend.

The Spaniard has made a mixed start to life on Merseyside. They remain unbeaten in the Premier League but have won just one of their opening four games.

“I don’t think they’ve changed too much,” he said of his former side. “Definitely in terms of names. They’re using mostly the same starting XI, very few changes. They lost Marcos Senesi and they’ve signed Antonio Silva, a very similar kind of player.

“The main ideas and the philosophy… I was lucky also to talk to Marco Rose before leaving. It hasn’t changed too much. They continue to be very dangerous, a very good team, yes.”

Iraola will attempt to remain fully focused on the job at hand before the game, adding: “I think on the personal side I’m really looking forward to meeting and hugging them, players that I love, staff that I have worked with that I appreciate so much. I was pushing for them yesterday when they were playing their first European game. I wish them all the best.

“But there is another part that is the most important one right now. That we need to go there and win and beat them and be as ruthless as possible. And leave all the talking for after the game.”

Bournemouth enjoyed a superb 2-1 win at Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday night but Iraola believes his side playing 48 hours earlier, in the EFL Cup against Tottenham, could be a factor.

“Yes. I think we have an advantage,” he said. “Most of the time it has been the opposite, we are the team that have played the last, this time we played two days before they played, even though we also played mid-week. There should be an advantage there.

“But also, I know where we are going and I know the stats they have there. Not only at the stadium, but overall. I think you see all the games they’ve lost in a long while, you realise how difficult it is to beat Bournemouth. But I suppose also I have the advantage that I know them very well. And they have the advantage that they know me very well, so, you never know who is with more advantage in that sense.”

Bournemouth have yet to taste victory in the Premier League under Rose but the former Borussia Dortmund boss is not pressing the panic button just yet.

He said: ”It’s just about getting more consequences in both boxes in a couple of situations. The way we play with attitude and confidence – all these kind of things are [going] in a good direction. I have learned to be patient. Of course, we are in a situation where we should have forced wins, but you cannot force this by being impatient or being nervous.”

The Premier League Table

#	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Last 4
1	Arsenal	4	4	0	0	8	1	7	12	W W W W
2	Manchester City	4	4	0	0	8	2	6	12	W W W W
3	Leeds	4	2	2	0	7	3	4	8	W D D W
4	Hull City	4	2	2	0	5	2	3	8	D D W W
5	Brighton	4	2	1	1	13	5	8	7	W D L W
6	Chelsea	4	2	1	1	10	9	1	7	D L W W
7	Brentford	4	1	3	0	7	4	3	6	D D D W
8	Liverpool	4	1	3	0	6	4	2	6	D W D D
9	Everton	4	1	3	0	5	3	2	6	D D D W
10	Ipswich	4	2	0	2	7	10	-3	6	W L L W
11	Nottingham Forest	4	1	2	1	4	4	0	5	W D D L
12	Newcastle	4	1	2	1	7	8	-1	5	L D W D
13	Manchester United	4	1	1	2	7	7	0	4	L D W L
14	Sunderland	4	1	1	2	3	5	-2	4	L D W L
15	Bournemouth	4	0	3	1	6	7	-1	3	D D D L
16	Crystal Palace	4	1	0	3	6	11	-5	3	L W L L
17	Tottenham	4	0	2	2	0	5	-5	2	D D L L
18	Fulham	4	0	1	3	4	7	-3	1	D L L L
19	Aston Villa	4	0	1	3	1	7	-6	1	L D L L
20	Coventry	4	0	0	4	0	10	-10	0	L L L L

Position 1, 2, 3, 4 : Promotion – Champions League (League phase)
Position 5 : Promotion – Europa League (League phase)
Position 18, 19, 20 : Relegation – Championship

Team News for Bournemouth v Liverpool

Rose will go with the same squad that won in San Sebastián.

There are no new injury worries for Liverpool either although they remain without Conor Bradley, Federico Chiesa, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni.

Expected line-ups for Bournemouth v Liverpool

Bournemouth: Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Silva, Truffert; Christie, Scott, Rayan, Kluivert, Tavernier; Evanilson

Liverpool: Alisson; Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Gakpo, Wirtz, Barcola; Isak

Recent Form & Stats for Bournemouth v Liverpool

The teams have met 22 times previously with Bournemouth winning just three times. Liverpool have won 18 and there was one draw.
The last 10 meetings between these sides have produced 40 goals
Bournemouth won last season’s corresponding fixture 3-2