Sunday sees Liverpool AFC visit AFC Bournemouth in a matchup of two sides that are succeeding despite a long list of player absentees. Both sides are surpassing expectations, in spite of having their roster depleted due to handful of different reasons. Let’s start with the Reds, where there is really only one name who might come off the unavailable list this weekend in Dominik Szoboszlai. The summer acquisition to help fill the void in the middle of the park is recovering from a hamstring problem.
He is a doubt for the trip to the south coast.
Liverpool at AFC Bournemouth FYIs
Kick-off: Sunday, Jan 21, 4:30 pm local, the Vitality Stadium
Liverpool Preview Content: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Form: Liverpool WWDDW AFC Bournemouth LWWWW
PL Standing: Liverpool 1st, 45 pts AFC Bournemouth 12th, 25 pts
Google Result Probability: Liverpool victory 56% Draw 22% AFC Bournemouth victory 22%
Team News for Both Sides
Moving on beyond Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah (Egypt- Africa Cup of Nations) and Wataru Endo (Japan- Asian Cup) are both away on international duty). Elsewhere the seemingly always injured twins of Stefan Bajcetic (calf) and Thiago Alcantara (groin) are both moving closer to a return, but this match will come too soon for either one.
Additionally, Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee) will be on the shelf for a considerable amount of time while Joel Matip (torn ACL) is done for the season. Andrew Robertson (shoulder) is out until sometime next month. While Konstantinos Tsimikas (shoulder) is also sidelined for a long time.
Shifting over to the Cherries, Marco Senesi is suspended while Antoine Semenyo and Dango Outtara are away on international duty. United States Men’s National Team midfield maestro Tyler Adams is still out until sometime in the middle of next month with a hamstring injury.
Elsewhere Ryan Fredericks (calf), Milos Kerkez (ankle) and Lloyd Kelly (thigh) are all likely to miss out due to injury. Finally, Hamed Traore and Darren Randolph will likely be unavailable here as well, due to an unspecified illness.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.