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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 2
Liverpool v Bournemouth
Anfield
Liverpool, England
Saturday, 19 August 2023
Kick-off is at 16h00
Liverpool will be targeting their first win of the new
Premier League season when they welcome Bournemouth to Anfield on Saturday, August 19.
The Reds got their league campaign underway with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where Luis Diaz opened the scoring on 18 minutes before Axel Disasi restored parity 19 minutes later.
Jurgen Klopp's side have a good record against the Cherries, winning seven of their last 10 encounters, including a 9-0 hammering in the corresponding fixture last term.
Image copyright: Getty Images
The south coast club also picked up a point on the opening weekend after playing out to a 1-1 draw with West Ham at the Vitality Stadium.
Jarrod Bowen fired the Hammers in front on 51 minutes, but Dominic Solanke found a reply with nine minutes left on the clock to secure a share of the spoils for Andoni Iraola's side.
Bournemouth did manage to arrest a seven-match losing streak against the Merseyside giants with a 1-0 victory on home soil back in March, which was only their second-ever league win over Liverpool.
Diaz enjoyed a good pre-season, scoring a goal each against Greuther Furth, Bayern Munich and Darmstadt prior to opening his account for 2023-24 against the Blues. The Colombian winger saw his debut season at Anfield hampered by a knee injury, although he still went on to contribute four goals and two assists in 17 top-flight appearances.
Justin Kluivert has followed in the footsteps of his father, Patrick, who spent the 2004-05 season with Newcastle and scored 13 goals in 37 games. The 24-year-old winger joined the Cherries in July from Roma and made his debut against West Ham as a second-half substitute.
Klopp was content to come away from the capital with a point and felt there were some positives to take from the performance that he can build upon.
"I saw a lot of things I liked and, of course, some things I didn't like particularly, but it's a first game in a tough place," the German said after the clash in London.
"I tend to see it rather positive, to be honest. So far in my career the first matchdays were always difficult and an away game at Chelsea as a first matchday is not a top draw. So we have a point and we keep working."
Iraola wants to use the performance and result against the Hammers as a springboard, but admits there is plenty of room for improvement.
"It's a good point, we wanted three. We were better at the end of both halves," the Spaniard said. "After tying the game the momentum was with us and we finished better, but it was one point.
"We improved after the first half and second half we were a bit more direct. We have to improve, this was the first game of the season. We have to grow from this starting point."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Liverpool - 4
Bournemouth - 1
Draws - 0
Matchday 2 fixtures:
Friday, August 18
19h45: Nottingham Forest v Sheffield United
Saturday, August 19
15h00: Fulham v Brentford
15h00: Liverpool v Bournemouth
15h00: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brighton & Hove Albion
17h30: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
20h00: Manchester City v Newcastle United
Sunday, August 20
14h00: Aston Villa v Everton
16h30: West Ham United v Chelsea
Monday, August 21
20h00: Crystal Palace v Arsenal
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