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A rematch of the Premier League’s curtain raiser, both Liverpool and Bournemouth’s form has faded after strong starts to the season.
Arne Slot made one change to the side that beat Marseille, as Cody Gakpo replaced Hugo Ekitiké.
Andoni Iraola made one change to the team that drew with Brighton, as Adam Smith came in for Marcus Tavernier.
Liverpool found it easy to play out from the back. Having the centre-backs split wide and Alexis Mac Allister drop in between them, they outnumbered Bournemouth’s attackers to play past the first line, then they outnumbered Bournemouth in midfield too, allowing them to cut through the Cherries.
Liverpool found it much harder if Bournemouth sat back though. This congested the space, and even if they moved the ball around quickly, often having Mohamed Salah and Gakpo dropping off into midfield too, they struggled to work the ball into attack.
They usually had more success passing the ball wide to Jeremie Frimpong than trying to play through the centre.
Bournemouth weren’t having much difficulty playing out either though. Lewis Cook would often drop back between the centre-backs, although he was followed by one of Liverpool’s attacking midfielders, stopping their frontline from being outnumbered as Bournemouth’s was.
Instead, it was typically Adrien Truffert that would drop back on the left, finding an angle to receive a pass and play forward. This would often see Frimpong drawn out to meet him, leaving space behind the full-back for Bournemouth to exploit.
Bournemouth didn’t need any patterns of play to take the lead however. Marcos Senesi kicked a ball in behind, which Virgil van Dijk first failed to clear, then failed to compete for, allowing Alex Scott to knock it back for Evanilson to finish.
Minutes later they doubled their lead. Cook again dropped back into defence, but as Joe Gomez had gone off injured and was yet to be replaced by Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch was forced back into defence, seeing Gakpo drawn back into midfield. This meant Liverpool’s frontline was outnumbered by Bournemouth, allowing James Hill to stride forward with the ball and pick out a pass. Milos Kerkez allowed Alex Jiménez to run in behind him and finish.
Liverpool managed to pull one back from a corner just before half-time though. Van Dijk used Mac Allister and Truffert to get separation and block off his marker, Hill, allowing him to get a clear run at the near post, nodding it into the net.
In the second half, Bournemouth sat deep to protect their lead, leaving Liverpool having to break down a low block again.
Their best moments came when they got the ball wide, so just before the hour mark, Slot reverted to the 4-2-3-1, bringing on Curtis Jones and Ekitiké. This added wingers to the full-backs providing width, and Rio Ngumoha was brought on not long after.
It was Ngumoha that would lead to Liverpool’s equaliser, dribbling inside and getting fouled, with Dominik Szoboszlai converting the resulting free-kick.
This woke up Bournemouth. Rather than settling for the draw, they began to press high again, and broke forward quickly when they got it.
Deep into added time, they were rewarded for this. Hill flung in a throw, and although Liverpool had greater numbers at the near post, they failed to deal with it. A scramble ensued, eventually falling to Amine Adli to get it across the line.
This put an end to Liverpool’s unbeaten record, and leaves them still without a league win in 2026.
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