The Reds were seven points clear at the top of the table not so long ago, but they will go into Saturday’s match sitting in second place after Manchester City moved above them on goal difference with a midweek win over Everton.Liverpool had not dropped a single point to a team outside the ‘big six’ all season before those two games, and it is the performances as much as the results that will have worried the club’s fans.The Merseysiders looked supremely confident throughout the first half of the season, but since the turn of the year they have now lost against Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, scraped past Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace and drawn with Leicester and West Ham.
The Reds would be forgiven for having one eye on that showdown at the Etihad Stadium and even further afield with matches against Bayern Munich and Manchester United to come next week, but for now their full focus must be on returning to the form which has taken them this far.Indeed, at home Klopp’s side has conceded six times in their last five league games compared to just once in the previous 12, and if they are to get their title challenge back on track then restoring the faith in that defence may be the first port of call.
Watch stream open: Link
Liverpool lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Fabinho; Shaqiri, Firmino, Mane; Salah
Bournemouth lineup:
Boruc; Cook, Ake, Daniels; Stanislas, Gosling, Lerma, Surman, Fraser; King, Solanke
