Bournemouth earned arguably the biggest win of in their history as they beat Spanish club Real Sociedad 2-1 on the road in the Europa League, but now face a quick turnaround to face a Liverpool team fronted by ex-Cherries head coach Andoni Iraola.
Marco Rose replaced Iraola in the summer and remains unbeaten at the Vitality Stadium, but everyone knows how tough teams have found it to play on Sunday on the back of a Thursday game abroad. Crystal Palace lost four of their first six Premier League games that followed European nights last term, while Nottingham Forest lost four of their first five equivalent games after Europa League matchdays.
Bournemouth will have been buoyed by their 2-1 win over Sociedad, but they will find it tough to repeat the intensity of some of their positive early-season performances.
Rose’s reign began promisingly, despite a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City, and his side have continued to score in every game. However, their only clean sheet this season came in a 4-0 Carabao Cup romp against a second-string Lincoln line-up.
Liverpool certainly have the attacking options to cause Bournemouth plenty of problems on Sunday, and they appear to be gradually getting up to speed under their new coach. The Iraola press was evident against Tottenham last Tuesday as the Reds won 3-1 in the EFL Cup. Liverpool should be able to follow that up with another victory here.
Bournemouth vs Liverpool prediction: Liverpool ML (+115) available at time of publishing. Playable to +100.
