England and Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has backed Liverpool to beat Bournemouth in their Premier League contest at Anfield this Saturday (September 21).
The Reds, who recently registered a 3-1 win at AC Milan in their UEFA Champions League opener, are fourth in the 2024-25 Premier League standings. After winning three matches on the trot, they crashed to a surprise 1-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Andoni Iraola's outfit, on the other hand, are sitting in 11th place after losing 1-0 to Chelsea last Saturday. They are on five points from four league games, registering one win, two draws, and one defeat so far.
In his column for Metro, Shearer shared his honest thoughts on Liverpool's contest against Bournemouth this Saturday. The 54-year-old wrote:
"No one saw last week's result coming at Anfield against Nottingham Forest, who deserved the three points. They have had a brilliant start to the season... there's no doubt about that. Liverpool conceded early in Milan which could have rocked them after the weekend, but they came back well to win the game in Italy."
Revealing why the Reds will beat Bournemouth, Shearer concluded:
"Arne Slot will change things around in the team because of what happened last week and because of the extra game in midweek too. I think they'll have enough, and it'll be a home win for Liverpool."
The Anfieldoutfit have registered 10 wins and just one loss in their last 11 matches against Bournemouth, scoring a staggering 37 times.
Liverpool could miss Alisson this weekend
At a pre-game press conference, Reds head coach Arne Slot revealed that Alisson Becker is a major doubt for the upcoming Bournemouth clash owing to a hamstring issue. He said (h/t Liverpool Echo):
"Alisson is still a doubt if he can train today. We have to wait and see. He has a slight issue with one of his muscles. We wonder if this game tomorrow is coming too early or not. He didn't do it in the AC Milan game, he felt it before... then he felt it more and more. Now, we have to see if he's ready for the weekend."
Alisson, who missed 16 games due to multiple injuries last season, has kept three clean sheets in five total appearances for his team this term.
On the other hand, Caoimhin Kelleher could make his first appearance under Slot should the Brazilian goalkeeper fail to feature this weekend.