{"id":346020,"date":"2025-08-15T08:03:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T08:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/346020\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T08:03:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T08:03:11","slug":"liverpool-vs-bournemouth-prediction-can-reigning-premier-league-champions-start-2025-26-with-a-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/346020\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool vs Bournemouth Prediction: Can Reigning Premier League Champions Start 2025-26 With a Win?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><strong>We look<br \/>\nahead to Friday\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/competition\/premier-league\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Premier<br \/>\nLeague<\/a> game at Anfield with our Liverpool vs Bournemouth<br \/>\nprediction and preview. Will the defending Premier League champions<br \/>\nstart with a victory?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>Liverpool vs Bournemouth: The Key<br \/>\nStats<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/articles\/opta-football-predictions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Opta<br \/>\nsupercomputer<\/a> makes Liverpool resounding 69.4% favourites to<br \/>\nwin the match against Bournemouth.<\/li>\n<li>The Reds have won their last six home league games against<br \/>\nBournemouth by an aggregate scoreline of 23-2.<\/li>\n<li>Mohamed Salah is the Premier League\u2019s top goal scorer and<br \/>\nleading player for goal contributions on Matchday 1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The 2025-26 Premier League season begins on Friday night with a<br \/>\nmatch between reigning champions <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/team\/scm-14\/liverpool\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a><br \/>\nand <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/team\/scm-91\/afc-bournemouth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bournemouth<\/a><br \/>\nat Anfield.<\/p>\n<p>History is very much on the Reds\u2019 side, in two ways. Not only do<br \/>\nthey have a strong record on Matchday 1, but defending champions do<br \/>\noverall in the Premier League as well.<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool haven\u2019t lost their opening league game in any of the<br \/>\nlast 12 seasons, winning nine of them. Their last campaign to start<br \/>\nwith a loss was 2012-13, Brendan Rodgers\u2019 first season in charge,<br \/>\nwhen they lost 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion. The Reds\u2019 unbeaten<br \/>\nstretch is the longest current run without defeat on MD1 of any<br \/>\nPremier League side.<\/p>\n<p>There have been very few instances of title holders suffering a<br \/>\nloss in the first league match of the following campaign either.<br \/>\nTheir collective record reads 26 wins, four draws and just three<br \/>\ndefeats across the 33 previous Premier League campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>\nYour Next Read:\n<\/p>\n<p>If anything can give the Cherries a glimmer of hope this week,<br \/>\nit\u2019s that the losses all occurred within the last nine campaigns.<br \/>\nLeicester City were the first to lose on MD 1 in 2016, before<br \/>\nChelsea did likewise against Burnley the following year. Manchester<br \/>\nCity\u2019s defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in 2021 completes the set.<\/p>\n<p>In fairness to <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/articles\/tag\/bournemouth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bournemouth<\/a>,<br \/>\nthey haven\u2019t lost their opening league match in any of the last<br \/>\nseven campaigns, so are on a decent run with season openers<br \/>\nthemselves. Coincidentally alongside Liverpool, their last such<br \/>\nloss also occurred at The Hawthorns, where they were beaten 1-0 in<br \/>\n2017-18.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t seem to matter at which point Bournemouth face<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/articles\/tag\/liverpool\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> in<br \/>\nthe season though. They almost always suffer a defeat. The Reds<br \/>\nhave won 11 of the last 12 meetings in the Premier League. They<br \/>\nalso won a cup tie on the south coast in that period on their way<br \/>\nto lifting the Carabao Cup in 2023-24.<\/p>\n<p>Their record in this fixture at Anfield is even more dominant.<br \/>\nBournemouth have taken just one point from 24 available at<br \/>\nLiverpool in the Premier League, losing their last six visits by an<br \/>\naggregate score of 23-2.<\/p>\n<p>As with many opponents of the Reds, a huge part of the Cherries\u2019<br \/>\nproblem has been the unstoppable form of <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-118748\/mohamed-salah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mohamed<br \/>\nSalah<\/a>. He\u2019s scored 11 Premier League goals against them, more<br \/>\nthan any other player.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2018Egyptian King\u2019 also has a phenomenal record in home<br \/>\nmatches. Salah has scored 105 league goals at Anfield, with only<br \/>\nSergio Ag\u00fcero (106 at the Etihad) and Thierry Henry (114 at<br \/>\nHighbury) netting more goals at a single venue in the history of<br \/>\nthe Premier League.<\/p>\n<p>Most worryingly for Bournemouth ahead of this match is the<br \/>\n33-year-old\u2019s fondness for the opening weekend of a new season.<br \/>\nSalah has scored more goals (9) and registered more goal<br \/>\ninvolvements (14) on first matchdays of Premier League campaigns<br \/>\nthan any other player, with only <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-74208\/paul-pogba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul<br \/>\nPogba<\/a> (six) registering more assists on Matchday 1.<\/p>\n<p>\nGo Deeper:\n<\/p>\n<p>Andoni Iraola cannot call upon his own goal machine either.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-222683\/justin-kluivert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Justin<br \/>\nKluivert<\/a> top scored for the Cherries in the league last season,<br \/>\nwith 12, but he is one of five players very unlikely to make the<br \/>\ntrip to Anfield. <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-158499\/ryan-christie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ryan<br \/>\nChristie<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-155408\/lewis-cook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lewis<br \/>\nCook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-224995\/luis-sinisterra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Luis<br \/>\nSinisterra<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-168636\/enes-unal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enes<br \/>\n\u00dcnal<\/a> are also not expected to feature due to injury.<\/p>\n<p>There are not as many concerns for Arne Slot. <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-441266\/ryan-gravenberch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nRyan Gravenberch<\/a> is suspended following his red card on the<br \/>\nfinal day of last season, while <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-492777\/conor-bradley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Conor<br \/>\nBradley<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-171287\/joe-gomez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe<br \/>\nGomez<\/a> are sidelined with fitness issues. The Liverpool manager<br \/>\nwill at least be able to show off his shiny new toys.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-494595\/florian-wirtz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Florian<br \/>\nWirtz<\/a> was one of only six players to register double figures<br \/>\nfor both goals and assists in the top five European leagues last<br \/>\nseason, delivering 10 and 12 respectively. The Reds\u2019 record signing<br \/>\ncould also become the third German player to score on his Premier<br \/>\nLeague debut, after J\u00fcrgen Klinsmann in August 1994 and Ilkay<br \/>\nG\u00fcndogan in September 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Bournemouth won 2-0 against Leicester in their final game of<br \/>\n2024-25 but haven\u2019t won consecutive Premier League matches since<br \/>\nJanuary. With history and injuries against them, it\u2019s very hard to<br \/>\nsee that run ending here.<\/p>\n<p>\nMore on Liverpool\u2019s transfer business:\n<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>Liverpool vs Bournemouth<br \/>\nHead-to-Head<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The head-to-head record between these teams has been utterly<br \/>\ndominated by Liverpool, especially at Anfield.<\/p>\n<p>Bournemouth have just one point from their eight Premier League<br \/>\ntrips to face the Reds, while they have lost five straight in all<br \/>\ncompetitions since a 1-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium in March<br \/>\n2023.<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool won this fixture 3-0 last season, albeit their goals<br \/>\nwere scored by <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-244731\/luis-diaz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Luis<br \/>\nD\u00edaz<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/football\/player\/sc-447203\/darwin-nunez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Darwin<br \/>\nN\u00fa\u00f1ez<\/a> who have since left the club. The return fixture in<br \/>\nFebruary saw a 2-0 away win for the Reds thanks to a brace from<br \/>\nMohamed Salah.<\/p>\n<p>One of the <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/articles\/biggest-premier-league-wins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">biggest<br \/>\nwins in Premier League history<\/a> occurred in this exact fixture<br \/>\nat Anfield only three years ago, too. Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth<br \/>\nremains one of only four games to have a nine-goal margin in<br \/>\nPremier League history.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/liverpool-9-0-bournemouth-stats-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth stats\" class=\"wp-image-202993\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>Liverpool vs Bournemouth<br \/>\nPrediction<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Liverpool are given a 69.4% chance of starting their Premier<br \/>\nLeague title defence with three points in the opinion of the Opta<br \/>\nsupercomputer.<\/p>\n<p>Its 10,000 simulations saw the teams end all square 16.9% of the<br \/>\ntime, with the remaining 13.7% seeing a victory for<br \/>\nBournemouth.<\/p>\n<p>As the Cherries are winless across the 11 visits they have made<br \/>\nto Anfield in their history, everything is pointing towards a<br \/>\nLiverpool win.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/opta-prediction-liverpool-vs-bournemouth-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"Opta Prediction - Liverpool vs Bournemouth\" class=\"wp-image-202959\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><strong>Liverpool vs Bournemouth Predicted<br \/>\nLineups<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Liverpool<\/strong>: Alisson Becker, Milos Kerkez, Virgil<br \/>\nvan Dijk, Ibrahima Konat\u00e9, Jeremie Frimpong, Dominik Szoboszlai,<br \/>\nCurtis Jones, Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Hugo<br \/>\nEkitik\u00e9<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bournemouth<\/strong>: \u0110or\u0111e Petrovi\u0107, Adrien Truffert,<br \/>\nMarcos Senesi, Jordan Hill, Adam Smith, Tyler Adams, Alex Scott,<br \/>\nDango Ouattara, Antoine Semenyo, Marcus Tavernier, Evanilson<\/p>\n<p><strong>Opta<br \/>\nPower Rankings<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/2024\/08\/who-are-the-best-football-team-in-the-world-opta-power-rankings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nOpta Power Rankings<\/a> are a global team ranking system. They<br \/>\nassign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams.<br \/>\nThis score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the<br \/>\nworst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the<br \/>\nworld.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of kick-off on Friday night, here is the Opta Power<br \/>\nRanking for both sides.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/competition\/premier-league\/stats?utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/premier-league-stats-opta.jpg\" alt=\"Premier League Stats Opta\" class=\"wp-image-200617\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><strong>Subscribe<br \/>\nto our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theanalyst.com\/sign-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">football<br \/>\nnewsletter<\/a>\u00a0to receive exclusive weekly content. You should<br \/>\nalso follow our social accounts over on\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/OptaAnalyst\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>X<\/strong><\/a><strong>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/optaanalyst\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@optaanalyst\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TikTok<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theoptaanalyst\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We look ahead to Friday\u2019s Premier League game at Anfield with our Liverpool vs Bournemouth prediction and preview.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-346020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115031743313975554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}