Premier League Predictions: Liverpool to beat Bournemouth at Anfield

Liverpool begin their Premier League title defence at Anfield against a depleted Bournemouth side hit by key departures.

Liverpool starts their title defense against Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday, how will they fare against a depleted Cherries side? (Photo credit: GOAL)

 Liverpool vs Bournemouth

Anfield

8:00pm

The English Premier League is back; it felt like just yesterday that Liverpool held the trophy aloft. They will start their title defence in front of the Kops against the Cherries. How ready are they?

Twice the Reds led last weekend against Crystal Palace; twice they lost their lead to eventually lose the Community Shield on penalties. The main act starts on Friday, and having reinforced, everyone expects Liverpool to be even better this season.

Bournemouth is badly depleted. They have lost three key members of their defence and a number of others in key positions. Dango Ouattara has agreed a move to Brentford, leaving the Cherries thin on the flanks, but they have enough to take to Anfield, but how well will they compete?

No Dean Huijsen, as he has gone to Real Madrid; Milos Kerkez will line up against them, having joined Liverpool, while Ilya Zabarnyi has gone off to the newly crowned UEFA Super Cup champions PSG. How will they line up at the back against Liverpool?

The Cherries have a new face in goal; the exodus affected the goalkeeping position too, as the trio of Kepa Arrizabalaga (Arsenal), Mark Travers (Everton) and Neto (Brazil) have all moved on, but Chelsea man Dorde Petrovic joined over the summer and will be ready to face the champions.

Speaking of new faces, three of Liverpool’s new faces were among the goals against Palace, as Hugo Ekitike scored the opener off an assist from Florian Wirtz, while Jeremy Frimpong scored their second goal on the day. The other new face who debuted against Palace is the former Bournemouth man.

Liverpool lost Diogo Jota to a nasty auto crash, while the trio of Darwin Nunez (Al Hilal), Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich) and Jarrel Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen) are everyone's targets, and everyone expects them to bring in Alexander Isak at the tail end of the summer window when Newcastle is tired of holding on to a player who wants to leave.

Liverpool will go for this one; the competition for the title this season will be stiff, and you don’t want to start chasing from day 1. With Bournemouth adjusting to the problems they face currently with the mass exodus, they could just be an easy opponent for the Kops.

Bournemouth will approach this one without pressure. They can earn something if they stay disciplined in possession and fight it out in duels and by taking their chances. Antoine Semenyo is the man to watch for the visitors, but can the new-look defence stop Liverpool’s firepower up front?

Verdict: Liverpool to win.