Bournemouth welcome Liverpool to the Vitality with a squad stretched to breaking point. Marco Rose is missing Eli Junior Kroupi, Julian Araujo, Amine Adli, Veljko Milosavljevic and Tyler Adams — that's five first-team options gone, and it's the spine and the flanks that suffer most. Adams screens the back four, Araujo and Milosavljevic are defensive bodies, Adli and Kroupi carry the counter-attacking threat. Rose has kept Bournemouth competitive at home, but this is a patched-up XI asked to go toe-to-toe with one of the league's heavyweights. The Cherries will scrap, but the quality gap is glaring.

Liverpool arrive with a near full-strength hand. Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and Florian Wirtz are all expected to be recalled, and that trio turns a good side into a ruthless one. The Reds have been building momentum, and their recent outings — including a commanding performance at Newcastle — show a team that controls games from the first whistle. Away from home they don't sit back; they squeeze, they press, they suffocate. Bournemouth's recent home form has been gritty, but they haven't faced a press this organised and this talented all season.