English Premier
2026-09-20 - Bournemouth vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 20th September 2026 - Kick Off 2pm
This game is live on TV
Bournemouth
For everyone that has any connection with Bournemouth Football Club, Thursday night might be one of the highlights of their lives as they watched the team play in European competition for the first time. Making it a really special night is the fact that Bournemouth won 1-2 at Real Sociedad in the Europa League, a competition that has been won by English clubs in each of the last two seasons.
The next test for Marco Rose and his squad is going to be dealing with the Thursday-Sunday schedule through the next four months at least. The Cherries are also looking for a first Premier League win under the new manager, but Bournemouth will take to the field with a 0-2-0 record at the Vitality Stadium where they have scored and conceded 3 goals.
Bournemouth are unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions since losing 2-1 at Manchester City on the opening weekend, while they have won a couple of Cup ties in that time. The Premier League draws with Everton and Brentford means Bournemouth are unbeaten in 11 at the Vitality Stadium in the top flight, but that 8 of the last 9 have ended with the points shared out.
Amine Adli could be involved in the squad, but the latest update about Eli Junior Kroupi is that he is not going to be available until around the November international break.
Liverpool
Progress has been made in the League Cup into the Fourth Round, but Andoni Iraola will be taking his new club to his former stomping ground this Sunday and is sure to get a positive reaction from all corners of the Vitality Stadium. The Spaniard will be keen to help his Liverpool team leave with the three points once the game kicks off and that is going to be a big challenge for Iraola.
The Reds are unbeaten under the new manager, but a goalless draw with Fulham last weekend means they are 8th in the Premier League table and have 6 points on the board. The majority of those points have been earned away from Anfield where Liverpool have a 1-1-0 record in the top flight having scored 4 goals and conceded 2.
Liverpool have shown a bit more defensive quality in recent games and that has led to 3 wins in the last 4 in all competitions, during which time they have kept a couple of clean sheets. They beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Anfield in the League Cup Third Round on Tuesday and Liverpool won 0-2 at Ipswich Town in the last away fixture played.
The squad that has been available this past week should be set to travel to the South Coast. The manager did make changes to the starting eleven for the League Cup win over Spurs and Liverpool will restore some key figures for this Premier League game.
Head to Head
Both Premier League games finished in high-scoring home wins when Bournemouth and Liverpool met last season.
Liverpool had won 3 in a row at the Vitality Stadium in all competitions before conceding an injury time winner in a 3-2 defeat here last January.
Prediction
After winning in Europe on Thursday, this is a big test for Bournemouth to show the Premier League how they are going to handle playing two games a week.
Marco Rose will be very pleased with the win at Real Sociedad, but now he will learn a lot about how his squad are going to cope with the short turnaround. A strong team was selected and the likes of Alex Scott and Marcus Tavernier played the full ninety minutes, which is going to make this Premier League fixture that much tougher to negotiate.
Bournemouth did beat Liverpool last season, but that was under Andoni Iraola and the Spaniard will be managing in the away dugout on Sunday.
A win over Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup on Tuesday means Liverpool have had more time to prepare and they also benefited from being able to give key players a rest.
Andoni Iraola's team have also been more convincing away from home in the very early stages of the Premier League and that will give Liverpool some confidence to take into this fixture.
They have also shown a bit more composure at the back, which will give Liverpool the belief they can win here, although Andoni Iraola will be very aware of the threat that Bournemouth can pose.
The Cherries have played really well as an attacking force, but they have not been the most convincing at the back and that is something Liverpool can exploit. An inexperienced group returning from Europe will also have to go through a learning curve, which is another avenue that Liverpool can exploit, although they do look a short priced favourite.
Liverpool have been more positive as an attacking force away from home where the onus is on the opponent to come out and that does leave spaces for The Reds to exploit. They have had seven shots on target in both away games played this season and rivals Everton managed to produce seven shots on target in a draw at the Vitality Stadium earlier this season.
The layers are expecting an attacking game and Liverpool can put together six shots on target in this one, which looks a decent price and takes away getting involved in the goals or win-draw-win markets.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Bournemouth 2-2 Liverpool
