Liverpool v Bournemouth predictions: Mohamed Salah to score two or more in a 3-0 Reds win | OneFootball

Liverpool welcome Bournemouth to Anfield on Saturday (3pm), looking to carry on the impressive form that saw them beat AC Milan 3-1 in their Champions League opener.

The Reds’ victory at San Siro was a far cry from the one witnessed last weekend when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool dominated every statistic going except for the important one as Forest secured their first win at Liverpool in any competition since 1969.

Just to highlight the Reds’ dominance they had 69.1 per cent possession, 14 shots and five on target compared to Forest’s three. Liverpool also had 34 touches in the opposition box while the visitors had just five!

Bournemouth also suffered a 1-0 home defeat last weekend, with substitute Christopher Nkunku scoring four minutes from time to earn Chelsea all three points. That defeat was also the Cherries’ first of the season, after draws with Forest and Newcastle were followed by a 3-2 win over struggling Everton.

That might not sound like a surprise but the fact they were 2-0 down with three minutes remaining and scored twice in injury time to secure the victory makes it worth talking about.

Whether they can muster the same resilience on their second visit to Merseyside of the season remains to be seen. Liverpool are odds-on with betting sites to get back to winning ways in the Premier League with a price of 9/1 available on the Cherries.

Liverpool and Bournemouth have met 18 times in all competitions and the Cherries have won just twice, with Liverpool coming out on top 15 times and just one encounter ending all square.

Bournemouth’s last win came in March 2023, when Phillip Billing scored the only goal of the game, which was quite a turnaround from the previous meeting when Liverpool ran out 9-0 winners in a dominant performance early in the 22/23 season.

We’re not expecting that type of scoreline on Saturday, but we are going for a home win. Lightning rarely strikes twice and if the Reds can play like they did in the San Siro then Bournemouth will have their work cut out.

As well as their stats against Liverpool, the Cherries’ performances against teams in the top four don’t favour their hopes of springing an upset either.

They have only won two of their 29 away games, in the league, against teams starting the day in the top four, with both coming at Stamford Bridge as they beat Chelsea 3-0 in January 2018 and 1-0 in December 2019.

Two others have ended in draws while they have lost the other 25, so will it be just two from 30 come Saturday night? We think so.

One thing that will give the visitors hope is that only Brighton (67) and Man City (66) have had more shots than them (65) in the Premier League this season. They are averaging 16.3 per game, so far, which is their highest in a single top-flight campaign.

Liverpool though have looked solid at the back conceding just once and facing the least number of the shots in the league, with 28 and just 10 of those have been on target. It all looks too good for Liverpool to romp to a comfortable win, and we like the price of 9/1 for a 3-0 triumph for Arne Slot’s men on home soil at football betting sites.

The Reds have had six different goalscorers already this season. Salah and Luis Diaz both have three apiece, while fellow forward Diogo Jota has just one, which just happened to be the first goal under new boss Slot.

Goals from Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai saw Liverpool come back from a goal down against Milan during the week to take all three points at San Siro.

Salah has three goals and three assists already in the four games so far and Bournemouth are yet another team that he particularly likes playing against.

The Egyptian has scored nine goals in nine Premier League games against Saturday’s opponents, and they could be the fourth team he’s reached double figures against in the competition, after Manchester United, Arsenal and West Ham.

Salah looks potent at the final third at the moment. He was denied twice by the bar in Milan and saw another effort well saved by Mike Maignan. Given his record against Bournemouth and current form, we believe he could be in line for a successful outing.

Odds of 9/2 are available on betting apps for Salah to notch at least a brace at Anfield on Saturday.

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