Liverpool Vs Bournemouth Preview, Premier League: Match Prediction, Players To Watch - All You Need To Know

Arne Slot believes Liverpool's new signings received "a good first impression" of the Premier League in their Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday. 

The Reds were beaten 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time, with Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott all missing their spot-kicks in the shootout. 

Liverpool have been busy in this summer's transfer window, signing Florian Wirtz for a British-record transfer fee, with Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez also bolstering Slot's ranks. 

The Premier League champions have struggled defensively in pre-season, though, conceding nine times in six friendlies, with their backline struggling against Palace. 

Virgil van Dijk conceded a penalty before stepping out late from defence to allow Ismaila Sarr to equaliser, something Slot must be improved on ahead of their opening top-flight fixture of 2025-26 against Bournemouth this Friday.

"I think it's a good first impression the new players have, [those] that haven’t played in this league last season," Slot told the Liverpool website.

"This [Palace] was the number 12 [12th-placed team] of last season – a very good team, especially in the end they did so well that they maybe are better than the number 12 [position] they ended up in.

"But if these are the number 12 that can make it such a hard time for you, you know what you are going to have to expect if you play here and that is what they know now.

"And the ones that played here for a longer time also know that if you won the league, if you wear a Liverpool shirt, everybody wants to win desperately against you and we have to be more ready for that than we were today.

"We did quite well, in my opinion, until the moment of the 2-2 where we opened up completely in the middle, and he could just go one-on-one to Ali [Alisson Becker], which happened in the first half as well.

"That is too much for us, but overall, I don’t think we conceded so many chances that we now have to discuss us being poor in defence. But if you want to win something, you cannot concede in every game two goals."

Bournemouth, meanwhile, have had a mixed pre-season campaign ahead of the new season. They defeated Everton 3-0 in the Premier League Summer Series before losing 4-1 to Manchester United and 2-0 to West Ham United.

Andoni Iraola will have to field a new-look defence this season after the departures of Milos Kerkez, Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi, and the arrivals of Adrien Truffert, goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic and Bafode Diakite.

Diakite, who joined for a reported £34.6m (€40m) on Wednesday, will be available for their fixture against Liverpool. The defender is eager to get his Premier League career underway with his new team-mates.

"I'm really happy to be here and I'm very excited to start with the team," said Diakite. "I know the coach has great ideas which enables us to play well in the Premier League.

"Now I'm at the club, it's a good opportunity to show how I can help the team going forward.

"I'm a defender who likes to have the ball and play with it, and I hope to show my qualities both with and without it. I will give everything for the team and I hope we will have some great moments together."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

Salah, who led the league in goals and assists last season, has scored more times (nine) and registered more goal involvements (14) on the opening weekend of a Premier League campaign than any other player.

The Egyptian also scored more Premier League goals against Bournemouth than any other player (11). Salah netted a brace in their most recent meeting, a 2-0 win for Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium in February.

Bournemouth – Antoine Semenyo

Antoine Semenyo enjoyed his best Premier League campaign last season, scoring 11 goals and providing five assists for the Cherries.

The 25-year-old, who signed a new contract with Bournemouth this summer, helped Iraola's side finish ninth last season after scoring twice in a 2-0 win on the final day against Leicester.

MATCH PREDICTION – LIVERPOOL WIN

Liverpool are backed to get their title defence up and running with a win at Anfield, having won 11 of their last 12 Premier League games against Bournemouth, with the exception being a 1-0 away loss in March 2023.

The Reds have also not lost their opening league game in any of the last 12 seasons (W9 D3), since a 3-0 loss at West Brom in 2012-13. It's the longest current run without defeat on MD1 of any side in the top-flight. 

However, after winning the title with a 5-1 win against Spurs in April, Liverpool failed to win any of their last four Premier League games in 2024-25 (D2 L2). The Reds have not gone five without a win since between December and January 2020-21 (D3 L2).

Bournemouth, meanwhile, have often struggled during their trips to Merseyside. Indeed, the Cherries have taken just one point from a possible 24 away from home against Liverpool in the Premier League (D1 L7), losing their last six visits to Anfield by an aggregate score of 23-2.

The Cherries have also taken just one point from 24 available away against Liverpool in the Premier League (W0 D1 L7), losing their last six visits to Anfield by an aggregate score of 23-2.

But they have not lost their opening league match in any of the last seven seasons (W3 D4) since a 1-0 loss at West Brom in 2017-18 and will be out to cause an upset at Anfield. 

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Liverpool – 69.4%

Draw - 16.9%

Bournemouth – 13.7%