Lovren: Bournemouth Challenge Different From Sunderland

Over the past two weeks, Liverpool have come up against very defensive sides in Southampton and Sunderland who looked to defend deep and capitalize on any Liverpool errors to score on the counterattack.

For Southampton, as for Manchester United before them, this tactic earned them a point in a goalless draw against a Reds team that has been free scoring otherwise.

David Moyes and Sunderland had less success last week, when they finally collapsed in the 75th minute thanks to an individual moment of brilliance from Divock Origi.

Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren, who played in both of those matches, believes that Sunday’s game against Bournemouth will pose a different altogether.

“Definitely it [Bournemouth] will be a different job, maybe more opportunities for us, more space,” Lovren said.

"They’re really doing quite well, a playing team with really good individuals, but if we’re at our best on the day - and we’ll need to be at our best - I don’t think we’ll have any problems.

"I think we’re much smarter than these previous years – we know what you have to do today if you want to win the three points. It’s not enough to be at 99 per cent, it’s 100 per cent or nothing."

There are no easy games in the Premier League — especially away games — but despite recent struggles, Liverpool have made some games look very easy indeed. They’ve scored four, five, six goals and simply overpowered the opposition in several matches so far this season.

A win and three points is the main goal for the team on Sunday, but with the league table so tight a third of the way through the season, goal difference might become an important factor later on down the line. Bournemouth could be a good chance for Liverpool to take advantage of a more open team to run up that tally.