Liverpool vs Bournemouth prediction, best bets & betting tips | OneFootball

Champions Liverpool kick off their Premier League season on Friday night, when they face Bournemouth at Anfield.

The Reds’ season got underway last weekend when they were beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace, in the Community Shield, at Wembley, but they showed, in patches, the kind of form that will stand them in good stead again this season.

Arne Slot’s side finished 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal in May as they secured their 20th league title.

They have spent big this summer bringing in five new players and spending well over £200m, but they have received more than £180m in the sale of seven players.

Their spending doesn’t appear to be done yet, with a striker and central defender still looking likely before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

With Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz both being sold and the tragic death of Diogo Jota, the Reds still seem light in attack, particularly through the middle, so it’s no surprise that the speculation around bringing in Alexander Isak continues.

When it comes to the Premier League winner odds it’s not a surprise that Liverpool are the favourites for the title at 19/10, ahead of Arsenal at 13/5 and Manchester City at 7/2. Friday’s opponents.

Bournemouth, are 750/1 and they will face a difficult task to improve on their ninth-placed finish last season, although you can find a price of Premier League top four odds.

That impressive season, which saw them win 15 of their 38 games and keep nine clean sheets, resulted in bids for three defenders that they just couldn’t turn down.

Dean Huijsen joined Real Madrid for £50m while Milos Kerkez moved to Liverpool for £40m, back in June, and Illia Zabarnyi has this week joined Paris St Germain for £57m, so it will be interesting to see how they adapt after losing such quality.

This is not the type of game they would hope for to kick off the season, especially as they have lost 11 of their last 12 league matches against Liverpool. Their only win came in 2023 when Philip Billing scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win at the Vitality Stadium.

Liverpool have kept clean sheets in their last three meetings, but they will need to defend better than they did last weekend, when captain Virgil Van Dijk was to blame for both of Palace’s goals in the 2-2 draw.

The Reds haven’t lost their opening match of the season in their last 12 campaigns, winning nine and drawing three since they were beaten 3-0 by West Brom back at the start of the 2012-13 season.

We can’t see them slipping up this season either, and it’s more a case of how many they will win by.

Bizarrely, the Cherries’ last opening day defeat also came against the Baggies, when they were beaten 1-0 at the Hawthorns at the start of the 2017/18 campaign. Since then, they have won three and drawn four of their last seven season openers.

Football betting sites have installed the Reds as odds-on favourites for the opener, with the Cherries a high-price for the upset in the latest Premier League odds.

Hugo Ekitike had a debut to remember at Wembley on Sunday as he opened the scoring after just four minutes when he combined with fellow debutant Florian Wirtz to fire past Dean Henderson.

He should have added to his tally in the second half, but he headed wide from six yards out before firing over from 12 yards. Ekitike is an outside shot in the Premier League top scorer odds, especially considering his strong start to life in a Liverpool shirt.

The French striker joined the club from Eintracht Frankfurt for £69m and scored 22 goals last season in the Bundesliga, including two against Bochum and Hoffenheim, as his side finished third in the league.

Betting sites are offering 17/4 on him scoring first or last and 11/10 on him scoring at any time. As we saw on Sunday, he likes a quick start, and he could take advantage of the new look Bournemouth defence.

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