Liverpool travel to Bournemouth for a Premier League clash on Sunday afternoon, as Andoni Iraola goes back to the south coast after three good years there.
Iraola's first month in charge of Liverpool has been a mixed bag. They haven't lost a game yet, but they've only won three out of six. The three they haven't won have all been in the Premier League, where Liverpool have drawn three and won just one of their four games so far. They were disappointing and lacklustre in their 0-0 league draw against Fulham at Anfield last weekend and relied on three stunning strikes to beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Where Liverpool have just one league win so far this season, Bournemouth have none. After losing 2-1 to Manchester City in their opening game of the season, they've played out three straight draws against Everton, Newcastle United, and Brentford. On Thursday, though, Bournemouth picked up a big result, as they beat Real Sociedad 2-1 in the Europa League.
Here's everything you need to know about the match:
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event in the UK, NBC/Peacock in the U.S., JioHotstar in India, and Stan Sports in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
U.S ET: Sunday, September 20, 9 a.m.
UK BST: Sunday, September 20, 2 p.m.
India IST: Sunday, September 20, 6:30 p.m.
Australia AEST: Sunday, September 20, 11 p.m.
Venue: Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, England
Referee: Michael Oliver
VAR: Craig Pawson
Injury and Team News
Bournemouth
Julián Araujo, D: thigh, OUT
Veljko Milosavljevic, D: knock, OUT
Junior Kroupi, F: foot, OUT
Amine Adli, F: calf, OUT
Liverpool
Hugo Ekitike, F: achilles, OUT
Giovanni Leoni, D: knee, OUT
Conor Bradley, D: knee, OUT
Federico Chiesa, F: back, OUT
Expected Lineups
Bournemouth Predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Djordje Petrovic
Adam Smith | James Hill | António Silva | Adrien Truffert
Tyler Adams | Alex Scott
Rayan | Justin Kluivert | Marcus Tavernier
Evanilson
Liverpool Predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Alisson Becker
Jeremie Frimpong | Jérémy Jacquet | Virgil van Dijk | Milos Kerkez
Dominik Szoboszlai | Alexis Mac Allister
Cody Gakpo | Florian Wirtz | Bradley Barcola
Alexander Isak
Talking Points
Liverpool's midfield muddle needs solving
Last week against Fulham, much of the post-mortem for Liverpool centred around the midfield. Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai just couldn't impose themselves on the game going either way. They were not assertive enough in possession, nor were they combative enough out of possession. That is a big problem for Iraola at the moment.
Alexis Mac Allister's recent performances make him one of the first names on the team sheet, and he did his case no harm with an excellent goal in a competent midfield performance against Spurs in midweek.
That midfield is so important for Liverpool because so far, they are letting Florian Wirtz come far too deep to get the ball. While Virgil van Dijk and Jérémy Jacquet have been impressive with their progressive passing from deep, that isn't happening often when Szoboszlai and Gravenberch partner each other in midfield.
Trey Nyoni was impressive against Spurs and came off with almost half an hour to play, so it will be interesting to see whether Iraola takes a punt on the talented youngster ahead of the bigger names in his midfield.
Bournemouth hope for European boost to league form
Bournemouth were impressive on their European debut, as they beat Real Sociedad 2-1 in San Sebastián on Thursday night. Rose will hope that result is a sign of change for Bournemouth, who are yet to pick up their first league win of the season.
Performances have been impressive from Bournemouth in their first four league games of the season too, but they've picked up a bad habit of conceding late goals, which has led to them dropping points from winning positions in all their league games so far. They've dropped nine points from winning positions already this season, in a continuation of a habit that took root under Iraola -- Bournemouth dropped 25 points from winning positions in the league last season as well.
However, Rose will hope that the win in the Europa League breaks some of those shackles, and that his team can start winning in the league once again.