Bournemouth vs. Liverpool: Predicted lineups, team news and score prediction

In their last Premier League outing, Marco Silva's Bournemouth smashed Nottingham Forest, 5-0, to claim victory in a sort of unofficial new-blood derby — both sides having, to this point, made impressive charges toward the top of the league table at the expense of more traditional company. Despite Forest being considered the more defensive-minded of the two, the lopsided scoreline of their match means that Bournemouth have now conceded fewer goals, 26 to Forest's 27, in addition to scoring more. While Forest won't kick themselves too hard, still enjoying third place in the table, last Saturday's game will have Bournemouth feeling good about their own trajectory.

This weekend, they have the chance to augment that positive feeling with an even more impactful win — but it won't be easy. The Cherries have surely relinquished the 9-0 ghost of season's past against Liverpool, but the reverse fixture of this Premier League campaign, in September, still won't conjure fond memories. At Anfield, Bournemouth lost 3-0 to Liverpool in a match that offered a reasonable number of chances for the visitors, but ultimately always seemed to be in the Reds' control. Relative parity in statistical output in most categories would initially suggest a quite flattering image of the game — but Liverpool's 13 shots on target to Bournemouth's six tells the story of how things went wrong.

To remedy that relative lack of scoring chances, Bournemouth will look to play Justin Kluivert into the box — the Dutchman has a team-high 12 goals this season and seems to always show up in big moments. Going at his Dutch captain in Liverpool's central defense is no easy task, but it may not be wise to bet against Kluivert getting through at least once.

Liverpool will need to bring their best against Bournemouth

And, with Arne Slot having rotated the squad for their midweek Champions League fixture versus PSV Eindhoven, they'll be ready to do just that. Liverpool currently sit at the top of the Premier League table, on 53 points — six points ahead of next-best Arsenal with a game still in hand. It's a position of real power, but the Reds will do well to not take this weekend's opponents lightly. What has, in the past been a fairly routine matchup for Liverpool, could now be something quite tricky.

It's a bit foolish, particularly in the Premier League, to use any sort of transitive logic to predict a certain game's outcome. Having said that, though, both of Liverpool's games against similarly tricky Nottingham Forest didn't quite go their way — Arne Slot's side securing only one point across them, that first loss still their only one this season. As you might recall, Bournemouth had an emphatically better day out against the same opposition just days ago.

The strength of Liverpool's squad, in addition to their stunning league form while historic competitors melt away, would suggest that they'll leave the Vitality Stadium with a win on Saturday. Frankly, it's hard to imagine any other outcome, but crazier things have happened.

Bournemouth vs. Liverpool news, predicted lineup and score

While Bournemouth have a small laundry list of injuries, the most major of them are those of forwards Enes Unal and Evanilson, the latter of which has been a breakout star this season. While Evanilson is looking to be back in April, Enes Unal has undergone surgery for a torn ligament and isn't expected to return for the remainder of the season.

For Liverpool, Joe Gomez is getting closer to a return but is still reportedly a few weeks out. Diogo Jota has, yet again, picked up some variety of muscle injury and is on a similar return timeline. Curtis Jones is nursing a knock, but is probable to be in the squad against Bournemouth.

Bournemouth predicted line up: Arrizabalaga, Cook, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez, Christie, Adams, Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo, Ouattara

Liverpool predicted line up: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, van Dijk, Robertson, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Salah, Diaz, Gakpo

Predicted Score: Bournemouth 0-3 Liverpool

How to watch Bournemouth vs. Liverpool

• Date: Saturday, Feb. 1
• Start Time: 10:00 a.m. EST
• Location: Vitality Stadium — Bournemouth, England
• Watch: USA Network

Kickoff for the match is 10:00 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Feb. 1. The game will be broadcast exclusively on USA Network.