There are different ways to win away from home in the Premier League, and Liverpool’s 1-0 victory at Bournemouth will probably never appear in a compilation of the most entertaining performances of the season.
I enjoyed it nevertheless.
Bournemouth is a difficult place to go. They are physical, aggressive and very good at turning matches into contests where you have to earn everything. Liverpool did exactly that.
Alexander Isak scored the only goal, Liverpool kept another clean sheet and Andoni Iraola left his former club with three points. There were spells when Bournemouth made life uncomfortable, yet Liverpool rarely looked as though the match was getting away from them.
For me, though, there are two stories emerging from the early weeks of Iraola’s reign.
The first is extremely encouraging. Liverpool are starting to look very good defensively.
The second is where the bigger potential lies.
Liverpool have Isak, Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo in attacking positions. There is an extraordinary amount of talent there, and I still do not think Liverpool are getting the ball to those players quickly enough or often enough.
When that begins to happen, this team could become very exciting.
Liverpool Controlled More Than the Scoreline Suggests
The actual match statistics tell a more positive Liverpool story than I initially gave them credit for.
Liverpool had 54% possession compared with Bournemouth’s 46%. They attempted 12 shots to Bournemouth’s nine and generated 1.65 xG compared with 0.79.
Liverpool also completed 386 of their 473 passes at 82%, while Bournemouth completed 298 of 383 at 78%.
