LONDON — An away clash at Bournemouth might not have been underlined as a major obstacle in Liverpool’s pursuit of the English Premier League title but Saturday’s clash on the south coast suddenly looks anything but a relaxed trip to the seaside.
Liverpool has won 10 of their last 11 Premier League clashes against Bournemouth but will face a team whose astonishing run of form has catapulted them into the mix for Champions League qualification.
Andoni Iraola’s side has beaten three of the current top four at their 11,000-seat Vitality Stadium this season — Manchester City, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
Last week’s 5-0 hammering of Forest, a week after they went to Newcastle United and destroyed them 4-1, removed any lingering doubts as to the validity of Bournemouth’s attempt to compete for a European spot.
They sit in seventh place, one point behind fourth-placed City, and will be relishing the chance to have a swing at Arne Slot’s Liverpool on Saturday.
Liverpool did win the reverse fixture 3-0 but the score disguised the problems Bournemouth caused them. Iraola’s high-pressing side had 19 shots that day — more than any team has managed against Liverpool this season, home or away.
Incredibly, the 42-year-old Iraola has had to juggle the sort of injury crisis that has knocked bigger clubs off the rails this season and several first-team players will be missing as they take on Liverpool at the weekend.
But thanks to the tireless work ethic he has drilled into every one of his squad and his astute transitional game-plan, Bournemouth continue to punch well above their weight, Reuters reported.
“Every week presents a new game to relish, and I believe this is the mindset we should adopt,” Iraola said after last week’s trouncing of Forest.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who like Iraola hails from the Basque Country, will certainly be hoping Bournemouth can breathe new fire into the title battle.
Should Bournemouth pull off another remarkable result and stop Slot’s juggernaut, Arsenal would go into Sunday’s blockbuster showdown at home to Manchester City with a huge incentive of cutting the gap back to three points.
Arsenal will be wary, however of a City side who may be virtually out of contention for a fifth successive title but who are beginning to show signs of fight after a woeful slump.
City scrambled into the Champions League playoffs as they came from a goal down to beat Club Brugge on Wednesday and last weekend also recovered from going behind to overpower Chelsea 3-1 in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s fourth-placed side is unbeaten in their last six league games and appears to be steeling themselves for the sort of run that has often carried them to titles.
Talk of a Forest title challenge always looked fanciful and last week’s setback at Bournemouth was a wake-up call for Nuno Espirito Santo’s third-placed team.
They will aim to get that out of their system as they host Brighton and Hove Albion in the weekend’s opening game.
At the bottom of the table 19th-placed Ipswich Town has a must-win game at home to seemingly doomed Southampton while 18th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers host Aston Villa later.
Should Ipswich and Wolves both win and move to 19 points it would ramp up the pressure on free-falling Tottenham Hotspur (24 points) who face an awkward fixture at Brentford on Sunday.
Sixteenth-placed Everton host 17th-placed Leicester City on Saturday looking for a third consecutive victory which would move them further clear of danger.
