Liverpool vs Bournemouth Prediction : Can the defending champions start the 2025-26 season with a win?

Liverpool vs Bournemouth: Key Stats

• opta supercomputerMake Liverpool 69.4% favorites to win against Bournemouth.
• The Reds have won their last six home league games Bournemouth leads the overall series 23-2.
• Mohamed Salah is the Premier League's top scorer and the leading contributor with a goal in his 1st game.

The 2025-26 Premier League season begins Friday night with a match between defending champions Liverpool and Bournemouth at Anfield.

History is very much on the side of the Reds in two ways. Not only did they have a strong record in Game 1, but the defending champions did so in the Premier League as well.

Liverpool haven't lost any of their opening league games Winning nine of the last 12 seasons. The last campaign they started losing was in the 2012-13 season, Brendan Rodgers' first season in charge, when they lost 3-0 to West Bromwich. The Reds unbeaten stretch is currently the longest unbeaten run by a Premier League team in MD1.

Few titleholders suffered a loss in their first league game of the following season as well. Their collective record was 26 wins and 4 draws, with only 3 losses in the previous 33 Premier League matches.

If there's any silver lining for the Cherries this week, it's that all of these losses have happened in the last nine seasons. Leicester City were the first team to lose on MD 2016 in 1 year, before Chelsea did the same against Burnley the following year. Manchester Manchester City ended the campaign with a loss to Tottenham Hotspur in 2021.

To be fair to Bournemouth, they hadn't lost any of their last league debut games for seven seasons, so did well in the season opener Their own. Coincidentally, they were joined by Liverpool, whose last such defeat also occurred at The Hawthorns, where they were beaten 1-0 2017-18.

It doesn't seem to matter when Bournemouth face Liverpool but it's this season. They almost always suffer a defeat. The Reds have won 12 of their last 11 meetings in the Premier League. They also won a cup game on the south coast during that time on their way to lifting the League Cup in the 2023-24 season.

Their record in this match at Anfield is even more dominant. Bournemouth have taken just one point from 24 games Liverpool are 23-2 in their last six away games in the Premier League by a combined score of 23-2.

As with many of the Reds' opponents, a large part of the Cherries' problem has been the unstoppable form of Mohamed Salah. He scored 11 Premier League goals against them, more than any other player.

The "King of Egypt" also has an amazing record in domestic matches. Salah scored 105 league goals at Anfield, only Sergio Aguero (106 at the Etihad) and Thierry Henry (114 at Highbury) have scored more goals at a single venue in the history of the Premier League.

Bournemouth's biggest worry ahead of this game was the 33-year-old's enjoyment of the opening weekend of the new season. Salah has scored more goals (9) and made more Premier League first matchday involvements (14) than any other player, with only Paul Pogba (6) dishing out more assists in Game 1.

Andoni Iraola couldn't call upon his goal machine either. Justin Kluivert top-scored for the Cherries in the league last season with 12, but he is one of five unlikely to make the trip to Anfield. Ryan Lewis Christie, Lewis Cook, Sinistra and Enes Unal are also not expected to play due to injury.

Arne Slaughter wasn't as much of a concern. Ryan Gravenberger was banned for the final day of last season after a red card, while Connor Bradley and Joe Gomez missed out due to fitness issues. The Liverpool manager was at least able to show off his shiny new toy.

Frene Wiltz was one of only six players to score in double figures last year's goal and assist seasons in Europe's top five leagues, dishing out 10 and 12 respectively. The Reds' record signing could also become the third German player to score in the Premier League following Jurgen Klinsmann in August 1994 and Ilkay's league debut September 2016 Gündogan.

Bournemouth beat Leicester City 2-0 in their last game of the 2024-25 season, but have not won consecutive Premier League games since January. Due to their history and injuries, it's hard to see that run ending here.

The head-to-head record between these teams is completely dominated by Liverpool, especially at Anfield.

Bournemouth have just one point from their eight Premier League games away to the Reds, while they have lost a total of five consecutive matches since winning 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium in March 2023.

Liverpool won this game 3-0 last season, despite their goals Luis scored Diaz and Darwin Nunez has since left the club. Back to the fixture In February, the Red Devils won 2-0 away from home thanks to his opener Mohamed Salah.

One of the biggest victories in the history of the Premier League took place in this game three years ago at Anfield as well. Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth remains one of only four games with a nine-goal lead Premier League history.

Liverpool vs Bournemouth Predictions

Liverpool have 69.4% chances to start their Premier League Opta think to defend their league title with three points Supercomputer.

Its 10,000 simulations allowed the team to see off Bournemouth for 16.9% of the time, with the rest of the 13.7% seeing victory.

Since the Cherries have not won a single match in their 11 visits to Anfield, everything points to a Liverpool win.