Bournemouth v Liverpool LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as Jota and Nunez both score twice

Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool: A strong second-half showing took Jurgen Klopp’s men five points clear atop the Premier League

Klopp unsure how people 'dare to judge' former Liverpool star over career choices

Liverpool moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth that extended their unbeaten league run to 14 games.

The visitors were frustrated in a cagey first half of few goalscoring chances but found a higher gear after the break with Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota both scoring twice.

Nunez made it 1-0 in the 49th minute after a slick passing move carved up Bournemouth’s defence and the influential Jota put the game out of reach of the hosts with two clinical finishes in the 70th and 79th minutes.

Uruguayan Nunez put the seal on a dominant Liverpool display with his second goal in stoppage time.

Relive all the action with our blog below:

Bournemouth v Liverpool - Premier League updates

• Liverpool come on strong in the second half to beat Bournemouth 4-0 in the Premier League
• Liverpool extend their lead atop the table to five points with a comprehensive win
• Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez score two goals each
• REPORT: No Salah, no problem as Jota and Nunez sparkle for Liverpool
• FULL-TIME! Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool
• 90+2’ - GOAL! Nunez neatly finishes Gomez’s cross to add a fourth (BOU 0-4 LIV)
• 79’ - GOAL! Jota lashes home Liverpool’s third goal (BOU 0-3 LIV)
• 70’ - GOAL! Jota finishes with a powerful shot at the near post (BOU 0-2 LIV)
• 49’ - GOAL! Nunez finishes off a lovely team move (BOU 0-1 LIV)

[21 January 2024 16:31 · Luke Baker]

KICK-OFF! Bournemouth 0-0 Liverpool

Here we go - underway at the Vitality Stadium. Two in-form teams going head to head

[21 January 2024 16:28 · Luke Baker]

Bournemouth v Liverpool

Not long until kick-off in Bournemouth now. The players have completed their warm-up

(REUTERS)

(AFP via Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

(REUTERS)

[21 January 2024 16:22 · Luke Baker]

More Bournemouth v Liverpool stats

• Bournemouth have taken more points from their last eight Premier League games than any other side (19 – W6 D1 L1). Liverpool rank second for this with 18 points from their last eight (W5 D3).

• Liverpool have rescued more points from losing positions than any other side in the Premier League this season (19), with 12 of those coming away from home. The Reds have lost just one of their last 14 league games in which they’ve trailed (W6 D7), with that defeat coming away to Tottenham in September, going down to a 96th-minute strike in that match.

• Due to Egypt’s participation at this year’s AFCON, this will be Liverpool’s first Premier League game without Mohamed Salah since a 2-1 win at Southampton in May 2022. Since joining the Reds in 2017-18, Liverpool have lost none of their 10 Premier League games without him (W7 D3), winning each of the last four in a row.

• Dominic Solanke, who scored one goal in 21 Premier League appearances for former club Liverpool, has scored in each of his last three home league games (4 goals). He could become the first player to score in four consecutive home appearances in the Premier League for Bournemouth.

• Darwin Nunez is averaging a goal or assist every 93 minutes in all competitions for Liverpool this season (8 goals, 10 assists in 1667 minutes), with only Mohamed Salah having a better average for the Reds this term (one every 79). Nunez’s next goal will be his 100th in his senior career for club and country.

[21 January 2024 16:16 · Luke Baker]

Bournemouth v Liverpool stats

• Bournemouth have lost eight of their last nine league meetings with Liverpool, though the exception was a 1-0 win in this exact fixture last season.

• Liverpool have already won at the Vitality Stadium this season, beating Bournemouth 2-1 in the EFL Cup. The last team to beat the Cherries twice away from home in the same season were Bristol City in 1999-00.

• Bournemouth have lost all nine of their Premier League games against teams starting the day top of the table, conceding 30 goals and scoring just six. It’s the most such games any team has played in the competition with a 100% loss record.

• Bournemouth have won three of their last four Premier League home games (D1), as many as their previous 16 beforehand (D4 L9). They have scored nine goals in their last four league games at the Vitality Stadium, as many as their previous 11 prior to this.

[21 January 2024 16:10 · Luke Baker]

Jurgen Klopp passionately defends Jordan Henderson for Saudi Arabia move: ‘How dare we’ judge him

Jurgen Klopp has sprung to the defence of Jordan Henderson by saying his critics should not have judged the former Liverpool captain for moving to Saudi Arabia.

Henderson joined Ajax on Thursday, which Klopp thinks will be a wonderful move for the midfielder and his family, after ripping up his lucrative contract with Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro-League after just six months and only 19 games.

The England international had been supportive of the LGBTQ+ community and was blamed for then joining a club in a country where homosexuality is criminalised.

But Klopp believes that no one gets every decision right in life and feels assessments of Henderson’s choices have been too harsh.

[21 January 2024 16:04 · Luke Baker]

Liverpool have benefitted from their mini-winter break, says Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his team have returned refreshed from their mini-break and are ready to push on in the Premier League title race.

They returned to training on Wednesday – a week after their last game – and head to Bournemouth looking to extend their advantage at the top to five points.

While they will still be missing talisman Mohamed Salah, who is at the Africa Cup of Nations, and are waiting for the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Dominik Szoboszlai to return from injury, Klopp believes everyone benefited from a break from the intensity of the Premier League.

“Friday was the third session since we are back and you could see it was really important to everybody, for everybody,” he said. “As much as they like going on holiday, the thing they like most is actually playing football and that’s really cool to see.

“Nobody wanted to have three or four weeks, we are in the middle of a season (and) we love what happened so far. We are looking forward to what’s coming up, but these four days were just top class. We had a break and now we can go for the rest of the season.”

[21 January 2024 15:57 · Luke Baker]

Jurgen Klopp makes touching offer to Liverpool fan Sven-Goran Eriksson

Jurgen Klopp has promised to give Sven-Goran Eriksson a warm welcome to Liverpool and to let him do his job for a day.

The former England manager announced he has terminal cancer and delivered a defiant message to fans, while also revealing he is a Liverpool supporter who wished he could have taken charge of the club.

And Eriksson could be in the dugout at Anfield in March when a Liverpool Legends team containing some of their former players take on their Ajax counterparts in a charity game with Robbie Fowler, who played for the Swede during his reign with England, saying a call had been made to help arrange it.

[21 January 2024 15:52 · Luke Baker]

Bournemouth v Liverpool

Defender James Hill will make his first start for Bournemouth today.

[21 January 2024 15:39 · Luke Baker]

Liverpool v Bournemouth team news

Here are the teams for today’s clash.

Bournemouth XI: Neto, Aarons, Zabarnyi, Mepham, Hill, Cook, Christie, Sinisterra, Kluivert, Tavernier, Solanke

Liverpool XI: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Gomez; Jones, Elliott, Mac Allister; Jota, Nunez, Diaz

[21 January 2024 15:28 · Luke Baker]

Jurgen Klopp unsure how people ‘dare to judge’ Jordan Henderson over career choices

Jurgen Klopp jumped to the defence of Jordan Henderson by saying his critics should not have judged the former Liverpool captain for moving to Saudi Arabia.

Henderson joined Ajax on Thursday, which Klopp thinks will be a wonderful move for the midfielder and his family, after ripping up his lucrative contract with Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro-League after just six months and only 19 games.

“I’m happy for him as it looks like he is happy and that is the most important thing to me,” Klopp said. “People are really critical of Hendo about the move, first there and now coming back. I don’t know how we dare, always judging these kind of things.”