Liverpool vs Bournemouth Preview – Premier League 2025-26 | Form, Injuries, Lineups & Prediction | OneFootball

Liverpool vs Bournemouth Preview – The Premier League is set to kick off for another season as last year’s champions Liverpool welcome Androni Iraola’s AFC Bournemouth side on the opening weekend of the 2025-26 campaign, with both clubs moving in drastically different directions over the summer.

Bournemouth, who had a historic season last year, recording their highest ever Premier League finish, have lost multiple members of their squad to the Transfer Market, including multiple members of their wonderkick defence, including Dean Huijsen’s departure to Real Madrid, with Ilya Zabaryni leaving on a significant deal to Paris Saint-Germain. Liverpool, meanwhile, has strengthened in key areas, including the signings of Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, as well as two record signings in Hugo Ekitete and Florian Wirtz, after both Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz moved in the other direction.

Current Form

Liverpool comes into this season on the back of a Premier League title victory; however, their most recent result in preseason will lead to some doubt, after losing the Community Shield on penalties to Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace, despite this, Arne Slot would most likely consider his preseason campaign a success, after manging to integrate both Wirtz and Ekitete into his system against Crystal Palace.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, suffered a more concerning preseason after destroying Everton in a 4-0 victory, went on a string of poor results that included a 4-1 loss to Manchester United, as well as another loss to Premier League opposition, being beaten 2-0 by West Ham, as well as their losses, Iraola’s side will also most likely be missing their marquee summer signing in the Premier League opener, with Bafode Diakite likely to miss out having only been announced yesterday.

Head-to-Head Record

Last season, Liverpool managed to turn over Bournemouth in both their home and away victory against the Cherries, as well as having a history of past demolitons of the side, including a Premier League record 9-0 victory against them,  in the previous 20 meetings, The Reds has won 17 times, while Bournemouth has won 2 times, and 1 ended in a draw. Liverpool scored 56 goals and AFC Bournemouth scored 12 goals in these matches.

Last five meetings in all competitions:

Injury News & Suspensions

Liverpool

Bournemouth

Injury Summary Table

Manager Quotes

During his Pre Match press confrence, Arne Slot spoke on numerous different topics, including his side’s difficulties with injuries heading into the season opener, missing three or four starters, also discussing the difficulty his side will face defending their Premier League title this season, as well as explaining what he expects from Iraola’s side this Friday, claiming that they will be a ‘difficult opponent.’ despite their departures in the Transfer Window as well as beating them twice last season.

Predicted Lineups

Liverpool (4-3-3)

Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Jones, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Ekitike, Wirtz

Bournemouth (4-2-3-1) Djordje Petrovic; Adam Smith, James Hill, Marcos Senesi, Adrien Truffert, Alex Scott, Tyler Adams, David Brooks, Marcus Tavernier, Antoine Semenyo, Evanilson.

Tactical Preview & Key Battles

Tactical Preview.

During the Pre-season, Liverpool lined up in a 4-2-3-1 system, with new signing Florian Wirtz operating in a free role across the entire Front Three, however, one thing that many tacticians picked up on, which will most likely come into play against Bournemouth, is how Arne Slot’s side played in a back five when out of possession, with one of either Curtis Jones, or Dominick Szboboslai dropping into midfield to counteract the Crystal Palace front three.

With Iraola most likely operating with a similar 4-2-3-1 system in the opener against Arne Slot’s side, it can be expected that Liverpool will use a similar tactic to counter the threat of Bournemouth’s attacking Front Three in Marcus Tavernier, Antonio Semenyo, and Evanilson.

However, Liverpool suffered issues in transition during their loss to Crystal Palace, with Ryan Gravenberch set to miss Friday night’s game. Arne Slot will have to be wary of the potential of Bournemouth’s dangerous counterattacks, with Antonio Semenyo being one of the most dangerous players on the pitch in this area.

Key Battles

Predicted Scoreline

Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth.

While Liverpool certainly has clear tactical issues from preseason that Bournemouth could potentially exploit, the strength of Liverpool’s new signings, combined with Bournemouth’s departures, should be enough for them to kick off the Premier League season with a victory.