With a win versus Bournemouth, Liverpool can advance to the League Cup quarterfinals, marking their finest season in the tournament since winning the trophy in 2022.
Bournemouth versus Liverpool
November 1, 2023 | 7.45 p.m. (GMT) | Vitality Stadium | League Cup Fourth Round
Liverpool takes on Bournemouth for the second time this season, but this time it’s in a domestic cup competition—the League Cup fourth round.
With a 3-1 victory over Leicester, Jurgen Klopp’s team advanced to this round, while the Cherries needed victories over Swansea and Stoke City.
This season, Bournemouth has only won three games across all competitions, while the Reds have only dropped one game.
These are the nine things you should be aware of before Wednesday’s game.
1. Jones is no longer suspended
After receiving a red card against Tottenham, Curtis Jones was suspended for three games, but it felt like much longer. Now, his ban is officially over, and he can resume playing domestically.
He has played 133 minutes in two Europa League games since receiving his red card, so it is reasonable to anticipate seeing him on the south shore.
Naturally, Luis Diaz will be expected to stay at home while the investigation into his father’s abduction on Saturday proceeds in Colombia.
2. Penalties, if necessary
Fortunately, if the game ends in a draw, both Klopp and you will be happy to hear that extra time will not be required.
Rather, a penalty shootout will determine the winner and advance to the quarterfinals; the Reds have prevailed in the last four shootouts.
If the Reds advance, the draw for the next round will be on Wednesday following Man United vs. Newcastle.
3. Another reunion with a former Red
Goalkeepers Neto and Darren Randolph, Ryan Fredericks, Tyler Adams, Emiliano Marcondes, and Lewis Cook are all out, with Cook serving the second of his three-game suspension.
Because they participated in the previous rounds with a different club, neither Mark Travers nor Luis Sinisterra are eligible to compete.
Ionut Radu, a loanee from Inter Milan, will start goalkeeping for the Cherries back-to-back while Neto is sidelined. Dominic Solanke, a former Red, will be the main goal threat with five goals.
Potential Cherries XI: Solanke; Rothwell, Billing; Ouattara, Semenyo, Christie; Smith, Zabarnyi, Mepham, Kerkez;
4. Will there be nine or more changes?
For players like Conor Bradley and Stefan Bajcetic, this would have been the perfect matchup, but both are still out with injuries.
Ben Doak was participating in training on Monday, and Pep Lijnders confirmed this. It will be encouraging to see him back in the lineup following his recovery from a muscle injury.
Although Caoimhin Kelleher seems like a clear option in goal, Luke Chambers will likely get another chance after making his complete debut against Toulouse.
Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, and Jarell Quansah will provide fresh legs to the rotation at the back, while Cody Gakpo, who has 56 minutes remaining after his injury, is expected to start.
Reds XI predicted: Keleher; Endo, Elliott, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo; Gomez, Matip, Quansah, Chambers
5. Gravenberch is a “special player” to Liverpool.
Ryan Gravenberch’s thrilling debut at Anfield hasn’t shocked Lijnders, who extolled the virtues of the midfielder, who now has a squad and coaches who completely believe in his abilities:
“We get to watch Ryan of Ajax, which was already rather amazing at the moment.
Because of this, the cup holds great significance as well; a player who does not participate in a game for two weeks will never develop confidence.
“We all understand that a player who is confident and one who isn’t is not the same guy. I’m not sure what went wrong at Bayern, but I don’t feel confident or like I’m playing.
“He comes here completely trusted, and we knew he had promise because we wanted him then.
“And we knew that we had a special player with training, excellent conversations, demonstrating our idea, and the group’s clarity.”
6. The record is held by Kelleher.
We all know that Kelleher can score penalties very easily, but he can also save them. In fact, he has saved more penalties for Liverpool in shootouts than any other Reds ‘keeper in club history—six to be exact.
In his ten League Cup appearances for the team last season, he scored three goals in the victory over Derby and won four shootouts for a perfect record.
That’s quite a feat! Even while we would prefer for the game to be over long before penalties are discussed, at least we know that we would be in capable hands should they be required.
7. Not on UK TV live again
For the second straight game, Sky Sports has decided to air Man United vs. Newcastle and West Ham vs. Arsenal live instead of Liverpool live on UK television.
However, LFCTV GO will have live audio commentary, a full match replay, and highlights accessible here. We will also have live text analysis available throughout on our website.
The amount of UK fans who watch live football in this country is always astounding.
8. The quarterfinals are at stake
If Liverpool makes it to the quarterfinals, Klopp will have led Liverpool for five of the last nine seasons.
The Reds have made it to nine League Cup titles, the most of any team in the competition’s history, when they were last in the final eight. That was in 2021/22.
Conversely, Bournemouth is aiming to get to the quarterfinals for just the fourth time in their history.
Based on the historical record of draws, it seems certain that Liverpool will encounter a Premier League team should they advance. Since Man City is no longer in the tournament, at least they cannot get a “easy” draw.
9. Previous interactions with this referee
The referee for the journey to the Vitality is John Brooks. We’ve had several run-ins with him, which is why his name seems familiar.
Not only was he the official that Klopp celebrated in the face of last season when Cody Gakpo had studs dragged down his chest at Aston Villa, but he also recently showed Virgil van Dijk the red card.
VAR is not available now; it won’t be until the semifinals.
