Bournemouth vs. Liverpool: Preview, Team News, and Ways to Watch

Bournemouth vs Liverpool

| Wednesday, November 1st |
League Cup | Vitality Stadium
7:45PM BST / 2:45PM EST

After a disappointing 2023-24 and a massive midfield rebuild, Liverpool’s somewhat unexpected assault on all available competitions continues apace as the Reds travel to Bournemouth for the Round of 16 of the League (aka EFL aka Carabao) Cup.

The Premier League sides last met back in August, with the ten-man Reds emerging victorious 3-1 on that occasion and looking full value for the victory despite being down a man to the currently 17th-place Cherries.

That table position speaks to Bournemouth having started their season inauspiciously, and they hold just six points from the opening ten games—and with a trip to Manchester City on the immediate horizon, they will likely be forced to rotate their side for the domestic cup. Not that, one imagines, a first choice eleven will do them much good against City.

Regardless rotation questions on Wednesday, manager Andoni Iraola will have to deal with the absence of Tyler Adams, Ryan Fredericks and Lewis Cook, but dynamic wingers Justin Kluivert and Dango Ouattara, as well as former Red Dominic Solanke, are all available for selection.

Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Kelleher; Gomez, Matip, Quansah, Chambers; Endō, Jones, McConnell; Elliott, Gakpo, Doak

For the Reds, Andrew Robertson remains unavailable long-term following his shoulder surgery, while Kostas Tsimikas and Trent Alexander-Arnold will likely be rested, opening the door for Joe Gomez and Luke Chambers to fill in the fullback slots. Joël Matip and Jarell Quansah would be expected to feature in the middle.

In midfield, Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago remain unavailable, but Curtis Jones is back in contention following his suspension and will be raring to get back in rhythm. Wataru Endō and James McConnell potentially round out the midfield, though one of Dominik Szoboszlai or Alexis Mac Allister could be in the mix. Ryan Gravenberch, having featured in the last two games, seems less likely.

Up top, Ben Doak is back in training and could be due a start, potentially shunting Harvey Elliott to the left flank and letting Cody Gakpo hold the centre, but neither Darwin Núñez or Mohamed Salah are entirely out of the question.

Luis Diaz remains absent as the search for his father continues.

What the Managers Said

Pepijn Lijnders: “Our squad is full of potential, our squad is full of desire. You saw an example in the Toulouse game, when we changed eight times, we kept our identity, we still were in the opposition half, we had the ball, we were constantly creating.”

Andoni Iraola: “I think we have to take things position by position. I think that in some positions there are probably more options than in others, but we will try to put a team out to give us a chance against Liverpool because we will need a strong eleven.”

The Officials

Referee: Rade Obrenovič
Assistant referees: Jure Praprotnik, Grega Kordež
Fourth official: David Šmajc
VAR: Christian Dingert, Marco Fritz (GER)

Kickoff is set for 7:45PM GMT/2:45PM EST tomorrow, and television listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV.

In the meantime, and as always, we’ll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it happens.