Short-handed Liverpool will look to extend their lead atop the Premier League table when they visit resurgent Bournemouth on Sunday. Liverpool (13-1-6, 45 points) own four consecutive victories in all competitions and have five wins and two draws in their past seven games.
Extending those runs would require overcoming the absence of Mo Salah — who is tied for the Premier League lead in goals (14) and assists (eight) — in the first of several league games he will miss while with Egypt at the African Cup of Nations.
In addition, Salah sustained a hamstring injury Thursday in Egypt’s 2-2 draw against Ghana, an ailment that will cost him time with his national team and might impact his return date for the Reds.
Liverpool also is bracing to face an opponent that has been among the best Premier League sides since early November, going unbeaten with six wins in seven games before a 3-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Eve.
Former Liverpool man Dominic Solanke is blossoming into an elite goal-scorer for Bournemouth (7-8-4, 25 points), with the 26-year-old’s tally of 12 goals already marking a career high.
“I admire what Bournemouth is doing,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said. “Difficult start with the manager change and the results … but they have turned it around, and that is proper coaching. A really good mix, play football, use Solanke in a sensational way. Proper. But I don’t think they are preparing and thinking, ‘Thank God Liverpool is coming.'”
What Bournemouth hasn’t done yet is earn a victory over one of the league’s elite sides, having lost six matches and drawn one in all competitions against the top five teams in the current league table.
That includes a pair of defeats already to Liverpool. Bournemouth took a 3-1 loss at Anfield on the second weekend of the league campaign, then fell 2-1 at home on Nov. 1 in a Carabao Cup contest decided by Darwin Nunez’s 70th-minute strike.
“I’m quite happy with the two games we’ve played against them, but even then we weren’t able to even tie a game,” Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said. “We have to be at our best, as they are top of the league.”
Klopp may be leaning on Nunez to help fill the production void left by Salah’s absence. The Uruguayan is second in goal involvements for Liverpool with five goals and six assists despite coming off the bench in seven of his 19 league appearances.
Diogo Jota also has five goals for Liverpool in 14 league games, with six of those appearances coming as a substitute.