The first portion of the UEFA Champions League competition is now over and Liverpool FC finished top of the table. They’ll now move on to the next round, where they have the advantage of bypassing the playoff. They’re also top of the table in the other big competition, the English Premier League. However, the next match is definitely a really tough one- a trip to 7th place AFC Bournemouth.
Liverpool FC at AFC Bournemouth FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Feb. 1, 3pm, The Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, UK
Google Result Probability: Liverpool FC 58% Draw 22% AFC Bournemouth 20%
Premier League Form, Standing: Liverpool FC 1st, 53 pts, WDDWW AFC Bournemouth 7th, 40 pts DWDWW
The Cherries come in level on points with Chelsea, but behind them in the goal differential tie-breaker.
That’s key, because in the end, this statistic could make the difference between who gets a UEFA Europa League slot for next season, and who gets relegated to the Conference League.
Liverpool Team News at AFC Bournemouth
With the midweek continental competition behind us, the team news situation remains the same as it was entering the Wednesday night loss to PSV Eindhoven.
Curtis Jones is touch and go while Diogo Jota and Joe Gomez are out.
Liverpool Starting XI Prediction at AFC Bournemouth
Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Harvey Elliott; Mo Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.