Liverpool take on Bournemouth today (3pm) looking to claim their first win of the new Premier League season. The Reds drew with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge a week ago and now take on a team they thrashed 9-0 at Anfield last season knowing that anything less than three points would be a disappointment. Express Sport looks at how Jurgen Klopp may line up, with a potential debutant off the bench in Wataru Endo…
Goalkeeper: Alisson
Alisson conceded 43 times in his 37 Premier League appearances last season. That was a figure way up on his previous four seasons at the club. He conceded 24 goals in 36 games in the 2021-22 season, 32 in 33 games in 2020-21, 23 in 29 games in 2019-20 and a mere 22 in 38 in 2018-19
He failed to keep a clean sheet once more at Chelsea but has kept shut-outs in two of his last three Anfield outings. The Brazilian will hope for another here against a lively Bournemouth forward line led by Dominic Solanke.
Defence: Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson
Liverpool are expected to again start off in a 4-3-3 formation before blossoming into a fluid 3-2-2-3 in possession. Trent Alexander-Arnold will start at right-back but will move into midfield on the ball as one of the team’s primary creators.
Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate will be Klopp’s centre-back partnership for the second straight match. Andy Robertson is continuing to adjust to an unfamiliar role that sees him become a left-sided centre-half in a back three and will get another chance to acclimatise against the Cherries.
Midfield: Elliott, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai
Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajectic remain unavailable for selection as they work their way back to full fitness. Elsewhere Curtis Jones will not feature due to a minor ankle injury.
Alexis Mac Allister may therefore start as the No 6 like at Chelsea. Dominik Szoboszlai and Harvey Elliott, who impressed in a late cameo in London a week ago, may then line up as the two more advanced midfielders ahead of the Argentine.
Attack: Salah, Gakpo, Diaz
Diogo Jota struggled at Chelsea and could drop back out of the starting line-up. Cody Gakpo, deployed in midfield on the opening weekend, could then take up a centre-forward role.
Mohamed Salah failed to score in the first match of a new Premier League season for the first time in his Liverpool career. The Egyptian winger will start on the right wing.
Luis Diaz scored the only goal at the Bridge and should start on the left, with Jota and Darwin Nunez then on the substitutes’ bench.
Liverpool’s predicted XI vs Bournemouth in full: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Elliott; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.
Liverpool can make two ideal signings after Wataru Endo transfer to finish summer
Liverpool have had a difficult transfer window so far. Despite starting off strong with two quality additions to the centre of the park; Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, the Reds have since stalled in the market and are still in desperate need of reinforcements at centre-back and defensive midfield.
Liverpool lack defensively-minded midfielders after letting go of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and James Milner this summer and have struggled to get the ideal profile of player through the door. Top targets Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia opted to go to Chelsea following drawn-out negotiation processes.
But the Merseyside club have managed to bring in Wataru Endo from Stuttgart to fill the void. Although not necessarily the game-changing signing they would have wanted, the 30-year-old can play both as a holding midfielder and centre-half and has a relentless work rate that will rival the most active players in the league.
Of course, Liverpool will need another defensive midfielder to bolster the position and they are already weighing up a move for Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure. At 23 years old, Doucoure has plenty of time to develop and is more of the traditional No 6 that Liverpool are looking for.
Doucore is valued at upwards of £60million which shouldn’t be a problem for Liverpool who have already shown that they aren’t short of money in their eye-watering pursuit of Caicedo. The Mali international ranked among the top percentile in the Premier League last season for interceptions, clearances and blocks – and was one of the Eagles’ most important players.
His physicality and reading of the game have caught the eye of many clubs around the globe with PSG among those keeping tabs on the defensive midfielder but Liverpool will push the hardest.
The other ideal signing for Liverpool this summer is centre-back Marc Guehi, who also plays for Crystal Palace. Guehi is a four-cap England international and would tick that all-important homegrown box that Liverpool are lacking.
Despite being right-footed Guehi has predominantly been deployed in the left-sided centre-back role where Liverpool are lightest on reinforcements. Meanwhile, he is not only a solid defender but is also comfortable on the ball and fits the bill of a modern ball-playing defender.
Man Utd chief John Murtough leaks transfer plans in private chat with Liverpool hero
Manchester United’s football director John Murtough may have just leaked the club’s remaining transfer business this summer, in a conversation with former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy. The Red Devils have already brought in Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund for Erik ten Hag and are unlikely to stop there. Yet with only two weeks remaining of the window the clock is ticking.
There have been rumours linking United with midfield and defensive reinforcements, with Sofyan Amrabat and Ryan Gravenberch mentioned as potential upgrades in the middle of the pitch while Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard had been viewed as Harry Maguire’s replacement before the former captain’s move to West Ham collapsed.
United are walking a financial tightrope amid their ongoing takeover process and Financial Fair Play Concerns, as it is thought that further outgoing would be necessary in order to bring in the likes of Pavard, Amrabat or Gravenberch despite interest from rivals in their targets.
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Murphy was at Old Trafford on Monday for United’s first Premier League game of the season, as he caught up with club chief Murtough who used to work at Fulham as their Academy Manager – where Murphy spent five years as they reconnected and Murtough opened up on United’s transfer plans.
“I was talking to John Murtough before the game against Wolves because he used to be at Fulham,” Murphy told the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel. “I can tell you that without being 100 per cent, he was intimating to me that there’s more stuff happening.
“It’s pretty obvious that they need one or two more players in. I would be amazed if they didn’t sign one or two more players after that conversation we had. They definitely need some strength and depth.”
United have been open the sales of several fringe players such as Maguire, Dean Henderson, Scott McTominay and Donny van de Beek but they have failed to materialise and the club may be operating with a smaller budget than they perhaps had planned for.
However, Murtough’s update to Murphy suggests that further incomings are on their way in a positive message – with United hoping to improve on last season’s third-placed finish Ten Hag will need a squad that can compete with the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the table.
In April, Ten Hag outlined the need for two strong options in each position, a message Murtough may have in mind as he presses on with further signings. “We have to acknowledge that, especially in the frontline, we had problems during the whole season because we just didn’t have the numbers there,” Ten Hag admitted. “If the squad is so strong that you have in every position double the same quality, then it’s good.”