Andy Hunter was at Anfield to witness Liverpool fight their way back into form. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM!
Eddie Howe’s verdict. “We gave it a go. We started really well, and threatened on the counter attack. We defended really well, the two goals came from us having possession and that transition Liverpool are so good at. They punished us twice today, but I can’t fault the lads. We’ve made a mistake, but they still had to punish us. That’s the quality they possess. They were ruthless. I don’t think we did a lot wrong in the match. I felt we could score at any time in the game. Losing Steve Cook was a big moment. I don’t want to be positive after games we don’t win, but the last six games for us have been a big improvement. We’ve won two, but our performances have been better, and that encourages us for the last nine games.”
Jurgen Klopp speaks! “It was a very good performance after a very difficult start. From my point of view, the first goal was a 100 percent foul. Nothing else. But it shows the problem with VAR as well, because the referee didn’t see it. Mike Dean was next to me, saying have a look, have a look, and VAR said it was not clear and obvious, I don’t know how that is possible. We wanted to fight back before the game, but then we really had to fight back, and put them under pressure. We did a lot of good stuff, played a lot of good football. We had to concentrate 100 percent, and we deserved the three points in the end. [The home record] is nice, it is special, but not normal, and the game today is a good example. We had to fight hard, we are not geniuses, but we can really fight!”
Liverpool have broken their own long-standing record today. By winning their 22nd league match at Anfield in a row, they beat the mark set by the legendary Bill Shankly’s team in 1972. Third on the list: Manchester City (2011-12) and Newcastle United (1906-07). “It’s an amazing place to play football,” adds Milner. “There have been unbelievable teams here over the years, so to be up there with those is special. But we want to keep producing performances, hopefully winning trophies and create history for this club.”
James Milner, who made sure of Liverpool’s victory with an outstanding goal-line clearance, speaks to BT Sport. “Any Premier League game is hard to win. It’s a boring thing to say, but it’s true. Especially when you’ve had a couple of performances when we weren’t at our level. Again today, we weren’t at our best, but many teams would have crumbled after a couple of poor results. But we kept going and stayed calm, and with the boys up front, we always have a chance. You can’t question the boys’ heart and desire.”
Mohamed Salah adds: “Today we showed our personality, we had to react, we did well. We need to keep going for the next three games, and the rest of the season.”
Liverpool are now 25 points clear at the top, though second-placed Manchester City have two games in hand. They just need nine points from their last nine games for their first title in 30 years. Jurgen Klopp punches the air in front of the Kop, a study more of relief than celebration. Liverpool were far from their best today ... though they still scored twice, hit the post, and will feel aggrieved at the nature of Bournemouth’s opener. Not a bad way to under-perform.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth
One down, three to go. Bournemouth remain in the relegation zone.
90 min +4: Mane and Milner take an age over a free kick out on the left. Clock management in full effect. The Kop finally feels brave enough to break into song: “We’re going to win the league.”
90 min +3: Origi tears off down the left. He’s got Salah in the middle, but can’t force the ball past Stacey, who was tracking back well. Liverpool look like getting over the line, but they’ve made a meal of this.
90 min +2: Wilson is booked for a late clatter on Milner. Then a second change for Liverpool, as Origi replaces Firmino, who is still yet to score at Anfield this season. He’ll not get a better chance than the one he spurned a minute ago.
90 min +1: And up the other end, Bournemouth breathe again! Lallana and Salah combine down the right, teeing up Firmino in the centre. He has to make Ramsdale work at the very least, but leans back and hoicks deep into the Kop. What a finish to this game!
90 min: Milner upends Stacey out on the right, and this is a free kick in a very dangerous position. Milner heads clear, but Cook dinks a pass down the inside left, and Ake is clear! He rolls infield for Wilson, who should poke home, but stands on the ball. Then the flag goes up for offside. What an escape for Liverpool!
89 min: Lewis Cook sprays a pass down the right. Solanke hopes to latch onto it, but Adrian is out quickly to blast into the stand.
88 min: Billing’s back! But he doesn’t look comfortable at all as he trots around the middle of the park in a very ginger fashion.
87 min: Van Dijk lashes a long pass down the left. Mane nearly gets past Stacey, but legs tangle and he goes over. No free kick, and no penalty either, Mane making sure he falls inside the box. Ramsdale gathers, and we play on.
86 min: Billing loiters on the touchline in the hope his injury repairs itself in short order.
85 min: Billing gets up and limps off. It doesn’t look as though he’s able to continue, so Bournemouth will play the rest of the game with ten men.
84 min: Solanke whacks his own man Billing, pressing his knee into the defender’s lower back. Billing looks in some pain. He writhes around, punching the turf in agony. As he receives treatment, Oxlade-Chamberlain makes way for Lallana.
Updated
82 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain has a whack from 25 yards. It’s always heading well wide left.
80 min: Lerma is replaced by walking Tic-Tac advertisement Dan Gosling. The former Everton midfielder gets the sort of reception you’d imagine.
78 min: Correction: Ake forces out for another wasted corner.
77 min: Suddenly Gomez slips a pass down the right. Salah cuts into the area and tries to thread another into the bottom right. Ramsdale tips round the post for a corner. Liverpool make a mess of the set piece, but Salah strips a dallying Fraser on the right and feeds Milner, who fires across the face of goal. With Mane and Firmino lurking, Ake forces out for another corner.
76 min: Liverpool stroke it around the middle, but don’t go anywhere in particular.
74 min: Mane latches onto a loose ball, 25 yards out on the left. He hits it first time, curling the ball towards the top right. It’s beaten Ramsdale all ends up ... but the ball crashes off the post and away. That would have been an absolute pearler. What an effort!
72 min: Firmino has been quiet, but suddenly he sparks into life, dinking the ball down the inside right for Salah. The ball breaks back to him, and he flashes a fierce cross-cum-shot through the six-yard box. Mane, at the far post, can’t react in time to prod home. To be fair, the ball was travelling some, and it would have been a hell of a finish if he’d managed to connect.
70 min: Bournemouth are causing Liverpool some problems, though. Fraser tries to get on the end of a left-wing cross, but can’t keep the ball in play. A taller player might have asked a question there. The crowd groan in anxious fashion.
69 min: Salah tries to bring down a high ball with his shoulder, and uses his arm instead. A free kick out on the right. It’s floated in. There are five Bournemouth players offside, but the flag doesn’t go up. Ake and Solanke bustle around and force a corner. Liverpool are furious ... but finally the flag goes up. What a nonsense.
68 min: Stanislas is replaced by former Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke, who receives a warm round of applause as he reacquaints himself with his old stomping ground.
66 min: This one’s better. Alexander-Arnold takes from the right. He fires long, and at the far post Van Dijk rises to bomb a header towards the bottom left. Ramsdale claims it well, though.
65 min: There used to be a Liverpool fanzine called Another Wasted Corner. Well, that.
63 min: A free kick for Liverpool out on the left. Milner floats it in. Van Dijk goes up, but Ramsdale is able to punch clear. “I’m sure I speak for my fellow LFC supporters when I say I’m not enjoying our early 2010s tribute act this afternoon. Squeaky bum time indeed,” writes Sir Alex Ferguson tribute act Tony Barr.
62 min: Liverpool are not playing well. Stanislas crosses from the left. Ake is preparing to crash a header goalwards, but Adrian does just enough to punch clear. Diego Simeone will be watching this game with his feet up and a cigar on.
61 min: A long pass down the middle. Fraser beats the Liverpool back line, and reaches the ball ahead of the out-rushing Adrian. He loops over the keeper. The ball’s heading into the net ... but Milner brilliantly races back and acrobatically hooks off the line and away! What a clearance! Bournemouth so close to hauling themselves level.
Updated
59 min: Salah sashays in from the right and dinks the ball into the Bournemouth box to ... nobody. Ramsdale claims with a yawn. The crowd burst into song, in an attempt to light a fire under their team.
58 min: Van Dijk, usually so poised in distribution, wallops a long ball straight out for a goal kick, miles from any red shirt. The tension at Anfield is palpable. Next goal wins?
56 min: Some nervy head tennis in the midfield. Both teams aware this is still very much up for grabs.
54 min: Liverpool are beginning to stutter. Anfield is very still as a result. You can understand the tension. So close, after 30 years. Wins, so easy to come by for so long, suddenly don’t look quite so simple.
52 min: Stanislas sends a weak shot wide left of goal. A poor end to a promising move that saw Fraser momentarily get clear down the inside right, only to hesitate and see an effort easily blocked. Further proof, though, that Bournemouth don’t intend to lie down and accept the inevitable.
50 min: Stanislas knocks long down the right. Wilson nearly nudges Van Dijk, of all people, off the ball. Van Dijk’s not having it, and barges back to win and clear, but the Bournemouth striker is clearly in the mood to take the game to Liverpool’s centre backs.
49 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain has a dig from 25 yards. The ball cannons off Ake and away from danger. The hosts are on the front foot in the early stages of the second half.
47 min: The corner drops to Wijnaldum, who executes a perfect fresh-air swipe. The ball’s knocked back into the box. Mane tries to flick the ball around Simpson, but it clips the defender’s hand. Liverpool claim for a penalty, but they’re not getting it. The correct decision: Simpson’s arm was down by his side, and the two players were standing right next to each other.
46 min: Gomez slips a pass down the right for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who wins a corner off Ake. Alexander-Arnold to take.
Liverpool get the second half underway. They’re kicking towards the Kop.
Half-time entertainment: Meanwhile, across the city ...
HALF TIME: Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth
Another good 45 minutes for Jordan Henderson.
45 min +3: Gomez tries to release Salah down the right. Blooter! Overhit! Out of play. Goal kick.
Updated
45 min +2: Fraser works hard down the left to win a corner off Alexander-Arnold. Stanislas takes. Milner slaps it clear. Both teams are pushing for a goal that would significantly change the picture at half-time.
45 min +1: The first of four added minutes. Stacey nearly gifts Mane possession in the Bournemouth box, but just about gets away with it.
45 min: Smith barges Salah off the ball down the left, and slips a pass upfield for Wilson. Adrian races out of his area to punt clear, just in time. On the touchline, Klopp is ranting and raving. You’d pay cash money to be a fly on the wall in the Liverpool dressing room during the break.
43 min: Fraser dinks a ball down the left to release Stanislas. Milner does well to track his run, ensuring he can’t slip Wilson in down the middle. Stanislas lays off to Fraser, who dinks into the box for Billing, but Gomez is on hand to clear. Bournemouth are still carrying a threat. Liverpool don’t look secure at the back at all. Lots of space.
41 min: Mane is penalised for being kicked by Lerma. The referee is currently doing a splendid job of riling up both sets of players.
39 min: Stanislas makes good down the inside left and pearls a shot towards the bottom left. Adrian parries, although not in a particularly confident style. The ball spins out for a corner, which Adrian clears with a much more definitive punch. Liverpool attempt to break upfield, but make a Horlicks of the three-on-two.
38 min: More ill feeling, as Gomez nudges Smith off the field and into the advertising hoardings. Smith whacks his noggin. He’s up soon enough, rubbing his head and moaning at the referee. Speaking of Gomez ... “If Gomez goes down from the initial push the ref would probably blow for a foul before it got any further,” argues Dan C. “Maybe not a ‘clear and obvious error’ for VAR to overturn, but it doesn’t encourage honesty either. Which would we rather see?”
37 min: Salah, dropping deep on the right, rakes a diagonal looper towards Milner, coming in from the left. Milner connects, but volleys softly into the arms of Ramsdale. Bournemouth are holding on a bit.
35 min: Mane loses the flight of a long ball and sticks up an arm as it sails towards the stand. He’s still in play, though. Lerma and Fraser want him booked, and tell the referee so. The referee isn’t minded to flourish a yellow. The crowd aren’t too happy with Bournemouth’s demands. There’s a bit of an edge to this now, for one reason and another.
34 min: Klopp celebrated that goal with a wild scream, and a pointed holler in the ear of the linesman, who happened to be passing. He’s clearly still livid about that opening goal.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Bournemouth (Mane 33)
Van Dijk intercepts as Bournemouth consider a quick break. He rolls a straight ball down the middle for Mane, who is in acres. Mane advances towards the box, draws Ramsdale, and slips the ball past the keeper and into the bottom right. Easy as that.
Updated
31 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain has a dig from 25 yards. It pinballs around the Bournemouth box before the visitors clear. Liverpool are beginning to dominate.
29 min: Another corner for Liverpool ... but this one is whizzed straight out of play by Alexander-Arnold. Bournemouth are getting pushed back again, their early verve suddenly lost.
28 min: This is much better from Simpson! Van Dijk floats a left-to-right diagonal for Alexander-Arnold, who fires across the face of goal. Mane is waiting to tap in, but Simpson somehow hooks behind for a corner, from which nothing occurs. That makes up for his earlier error ... a bit.
27 min: Salah dug Mane out of a hole there. That move looked like falling apart, a superb chance about to be squandered, but Salah ensured it would count with a magnificent finish from the edge of the box. Mane will get an assist for that, but really.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Bournemouth (Salah 25)
Anfield is making some noise now! Mane robs Simpson, who was ambling out from the back, yet to get up to speed. Liverpool are two on one! Mane thinks about shooting, but rolls the ball to Salah on his right. It’s a dreadful pass, behind the man, but Salah checks, shifts inside, and threads a shot into the bottom right.
Updated
23 min: You could hear a pin drop at the minute. In the dugout, Klopp tries to whip up his charges. It’s all extremely flat. Penny for Pep Guardiola’s thoughts at the moment.
21 min: Liverpool win their first corner. Alexander-Arnold takes it from the right. Play is stopped as Wijnaldum takes an accidental whack from Ake’s flailing arm. Anfield wants a penalty, but there was no intent. Mind you, elsewhere, Lerma shoved Fabinho to the floor, so perhaps everyone was claiming for that. Either way, Liverpool are getting nowt, and the hosts look extremely agitated.
19 min: Simpson comes on for the Bournemouth captain Steve Cook. “I assume we can stop talking about VAR favouring Liverpool now, right?” asks Oliver Loksa. BT Sport refereeing guru Peter Walton certainly thinks it should have been a foul, as the “clear and obvious” bar is lowered significantly for an “upper body foul”. And he usually just parrots the official line, so make of that what you will.
17 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain plays a cute ball down the inside-right channel. Steve Cook stretches but can’t intercept. Firmino has space to shoot, but his effort is parried by Ramsdale. Bournemouth clear ... but it looks like Cook has done his hamstring.
16 min: Lewis Cook plays a ball down the inside-left channel for Wilson, who beats the offside trap and zips upfield. Liverpool are again short at the back, and lucky that Wilson’s pass forward for Stanislas is too strong. Adrian claims.
14 min: Milner is forced to concede a corner out on the right. Fraser takes. Ake pearls a glorious header goalwards. Liverpool are fortunate that it’s straight at Adrian, who can tip over the bar. The second corner comes to nothing, but you can be sure most of the punters inside Anfield are currently thinking about Devon Loch.
13 min: Let’s see if James Milner’s pre-match team-talk had any effect. There’s no immediate sign, as Fraser crosses from the right. The ball only just flies over the head of Stanislas in the middle.
11 min: Liverpool have only themselves to blame for that one. Wilson did shove Gomez in the back, and off the ball, but everyone in red then stopped. Bournemouth played to the whistle, and VAR official Michael Oliver saw nothing wrong with Wilson’s challenge. Anfield falls silent, bar a few boos, and a cheer in the away end. On the touchline, Klopp throws his hands around, urging the crowd to get going.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Bournemouth (Wilson 9)
Billing takes up possession, feeding Lerma down the right. He rolls the ball across the face of goal for Wilson, who taps home. VAR checks, decides there’s no shove on Gomez, and Liverpool are trailing again!
Updated
8 min: Wilson barges Gomez out of the way as the pair chase a long ball. It looks like a foul, but ...
6 min: Bournemouth are sitting deep. Liverpool hogging possession. It already looks like being one of those games. Can the title hopefuls break through? Can the relegation strugglers hold out? Alexander-Arnold crosses for Salah. Steve Cook heads behind for a corner, but the flag goes up, correctly, for offside.
4 min: It’s a lovely late-winter, early-spring day at Anfield. Not much in the way of breeze. Liverpool stroke it around the back in a similarly mild style. Then suddenly there’s a little space for Alexander-Arnold down the right, but his cross is easily hoicked clear by Ake.
2 min: Otherwise, it’s a slow start, and Anfield has quickly fallen silent. Expect this to be a tense affair, unless Liverpool score early.
40 secs: A mazy dribble by Oxlade-Chamberlain down the right. The ball’s slipped inside for Van Dijk, who lumps forward and nearly releases Salah down the right. Ramsdale is out quickly to claim. An early statement of intent from the hosts.
Bournemouth get the ball rolling. They’ll be kicking towards the Kop in this first half.
The teams are out! Liverpool are four wins from the title, and the atmosphere at Anfield is accordingly hot. A huge roar as the players take to the field of play. Much amusement as the players meet, the hosts trooping along the line offering no handshakes, as per the coronavirus edict. Smiles all round at the oddity. Let’s balance out the fun with some pre-match misery, courtesy of Ian Copestake: “Despite defending Lovren far better than Lovren actually can himself, Juergen has not included him on the bench. Kudos to the Croatian for self-isolating. I am going to say this out loud, but I think this will not be a win for Liverpool. I’m no psychologist but until they get the game with Madrid-lite done and won then and only then will the burden they seem to be playing under will be lifted.”
BT Sport have been lugging into Liverpool stand-in captain James Milner’s pre-match pep talk. Here’s what he told the rest of the team as they were warming up. “Those reactions, straight away, as soon as we lose it, bodies round it, then we play all that area, eh? Doesn’t matter who scores, we score, they score, we lift it again. Every kick-off is a trigger for us.” Well that’s fate tempted. Goalless draw ahoy!
Jurgen’s version. “The results in the last four games were not exactly how we wanted them to be. So we have the chance to change the situation. Bournemouth have to fight for the league, so we have to fight, make it as difficult as possible, and get a result. In football you always have to find a solution.” Is Robertson rested or injured, BT Sport’s Des Kelly asks. A long pause, before a considered response. “Something in between?! He would have started today but he felt slightly bad, so he will be good, fine for Wednesday, but not today.”
Cherries boss Eddie Howe throws down the gauntlet. “It’s the ultimate test and that’s how we have to look at this game and approach it. It’s a great opportunity to show how good we are. You learn from every opponent’s gameplan and see if there’s anything that can help your team, but we are us. We are our unique team with the strengths that we possess, and I think we can cause them problems. We have to believe we can get a positive result today. Being in the bottom three should focus our energies in a positive way. We know we have to do something. The onus is on us.”
BREAKING NEWS: Liverpool will be playing in red ...
... while Bournemouth will sport robustly couriered second-choice blue.
Liverpool make three changes to the team that went down so spectacularly at Watford last week. Adrian in for Alisson; Joe Gomez for Dejan Lovren; James Milner for Andy Robertson.
Bournemouth make one change from last weekend’s draw with Chelsea. Junior Stanislas replaces the injured Josh King.
The teams
Liverpool: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Mane, Firmino, Salah.
Subs: Keita, Minamino, Lallana, Lonergan, Origi, Matip, Williams.
Bournemouth: Ramsdale, Stacey, Steve Cook, Ake, Smith, Billing, Lerma, Lewis Cook, Stanislas, Callum Wilson, Fraser.
Subs: Boruc, Gosling, Surman, Solanke, Rico, Simpson, Surridge.
Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire).
Preamble
Winning the league isn’t meant to be easy. Liverpool supporters are all too aware of this, into the 30th year of the search for their holy grail. Mind you, this time last week, it felt like the Reds were leading a procession, four wins from their first English championship since 1990. But one no-show against Watford later, plus a KO in the cup, and the mood-o-meter has switched from Party to Pensive. If they fail to beat Bournemouth this lunchtime, it won’t exactly be crisis time ... not yet ... but a few nerve-ends will start to jangle, twitch and yip, you can be darn sure of that.
As Liverpool have just found out, a lot can change in a couple of matches. But then spin it another way: if they see off relegation-haunted Bournemouth today, as they surely should, then pull off a recovery in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, the entire picture will suddenly look a hell of a lot brighter. It doesn’t take much for the dial to shift either way. And what better opponent to shake off the post-break blues against than Bournemouth? Liverpool have won their last five games against Eddie Howe’s side to the aggregate tune of 17-0. They quite literally couldn’t Cherry-pick a better fixture in which to bounce back.
And yet Bournemouth won’t be without hope. They haven’t won in three, but came mighty close to beating Chelsea last weekend. They’ve also claimed a couple of big scalps this season: Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Manchester United at home. And they earned a 2-2 draw at Anfield back in April 2017, the same season they turned Klopp’s side over at Dean Court, coming from behind for a famous smash-and-grab 4-3 victory. It’s not totally been a one-sided relationship. Plus the fact Anfield may get a little nervous if things don’t go to plan for the home heroes in the early exchanges.
This could be the match that steadies the champions-elect after a brief, uncharacteristic wobble. Or it could go some way to saving Bournemouth’s Premier League skin, while planting more seeds of doubt in Liverpool’s collective mind, with big away games at Everton and Manchester City coming up. Plenty riding on this, then, and it’s going to be fun finding out how it all comes down. It’s on!
Kick off: 12.30pm GMT.
Updated
