Overview
The 2025-2026 Premier League season will kick off with a confrontation between defending champions Liverpool and Bournemouth at Anfield.
History is in favor of the "Red Brigade" in both aspects: the achievements in the opening round and the performance of the champions of the tournament. Liverpool have not lost their opening match in the last 12 seasons, winning nine times.
The last time they failed in round 1 was in 2012-2013, the first campaign led by coach Brendan Rodgers, when they lost 0-3 to West Bromwich Albion. This is also the longest unbeaten streak of any Premier League team in the opening round.
General statistics also show that it is very rare for the defending champion to lose in the opening match of the next season: 26 wins, 4 draws and only 3 losses after 33 Premier League seasons.
If there is any fulcrum that gives Bournemouth hope, it is the fact that all three of the defence in the opening round of the Premier League have occurred in the last 9 seasons.
Leicester City were the first team to "fall from the horse" in round 1 in 2016, before Chelsea suffered a defeat to Burnley a year later. Man City's defeat to Tottenham in 2021 ended this streak of matches.
To be fair, Bournemouth also maintained quite impressive results in the opening matches, having never lost in the last 7 seasons. Coincidentally, like Liverpool, the last time they failed in round 1 was also at The Hawthorns, where they lost 0-1 in the 2017-2019 season.
However, the time facing Liverpool did not seem to affect the result much, because Bournemouth almost always lost. The Kop have won 11/12 of their most recent Premier League meetings, and eliminated Bournemouth in the 2023-2024 Carabao Cup on the championship journey.
At Anfield, the dominance is even more evident. Bournemouth have only won one point out of their 24 maximum points, losing all six of their most recent visits with a total score of 23-2. Part of the reason lies in Mohamed Salah's fearsome goalscoring streak - a player who has scored 11 goals against them in the Premier League, more than anyone else.
The "Egyptian King" is also third in the league's history in goals scored in a single stadium (105 goals at Anfield), behind Sergio Aguero (106 at the Etihad) and Thierry Henry (114 at Highbury).
More worryingly, Salah was especially "hot" in the opening round: 9 goals and 14 assists - the most in Premier League history - only Paul Pogba (6) assisted more in round 1.
Coach Andoni Iraola also has a headache with the squad situation when Justin Kluivert - the best striker last season (12 goals) - along with Ryan Christie, Lewis Cook, Luis Sinisterra and Enes Unal are likely to be absent due to injury.
In contrast, Arne Slot has almost the optimal squad, only missing Ryan Gravenberch (suspended), Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez (injured).
Record signing Florian Wirtz - one of six players in last season's top five European leagues with 10+ goals and 10+ assists - could easily become the third German player to score in his Premier League debut, behind Jurgen Klinsmann (1994) and Ilkay Gundogan (2016).
Bournemouth ended the 2024-2025 season with a 2-0 win over Leicester, but they have not won consecutively in the Premier League since January this year. With a history of head-to-head matches and injury storms, it is difficult to believe that Bournemouth will gain points at Anfield.
Head-to-head record
The head-to-head record between the two sides is completely in Liverpool's favor, especially every time they play at Anfield.
Bournemouth have only won 1 point after visiting The Kop eight times in the Premier League. They have lost five consecutive games in all competitions since a 1-0 win at Vitality in March 2023.
Last season, Liverpool won 3-0 in the first leg, although all three goals were scored by Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez - players who have now left the club.
The comeback in February saw Salah score a double, bringing the Kop a 2-0 victory away from home.
Anfield also saw one of the biggest wins in Premier League history. Liverpool destroyed Bournemouth 9-0 3 years ago - one of 4 league games with a gap of up to 9 goals.
The match between Liverpool and Bournemouth takes place at 2:00 am on August 16 (Vietnam time).
