Bournemouth’s front trio as good as Liverpool’s and Callum Wilson deserves England call, says Asmir Begovic

Liverpool may have Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah but Bournemouth believe their attacking trio of Ryan Fraser, Callum Wilson and Josh King are every bit as good.

Certainly the way they put an experienced Leicester City defence to the sword on Saturday will give a few other Premier League sides reason to worry.

Harry Maguire was a standout player at the World Cup, Wes Morgan a title winning Premier League captain and Ben Chilwell England’s newest debutant. But all three had afternoons to forget because they simply could not handle the speed of Fraser, Wilson and King.

It is a bold claim but Asmir Begovic, as experienced a Premier League keeper as there is, is adamant that his side’s attack can compete with the very best, including Liverpool’s famed forward line.

“Our front three are as good as anyone in the league,” he said. “We are a very attacking team, we want to attack and score goals.

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“They are up there with Liverpool’s front three when they are on form. The way we play suits them. They have a great understanding and long may it continue.”

Begovic has also called for Gareth Southgate to take note of Bournemouth and in particular Wilson, Steve Cook and Lewis Cook.

“A few of the lads should be in consideration for England, the lads have been playing week in, week out,” he said. “Callum and Steve, while Lewis has been in, those guys have got to be pushing. It is great recognition for the club if they do.

“I think they are at international level and we are playing a similar style to England. They have proved themselves at the highest level on a consistent basis. I know they are pushing and I’m sure they will get their rewards in the end.”

Bournemouth are now up to the highs of fifth spot after a comfortable afternoon which gave their fans much to be excited about.

Fraser scored twice in the first half as his rapid speed got the better of a Leicester defence that could not handle him or his colleagues while it was 3-0 before the break after King’s spot kick following Ricardo Pereira’s handball.

It got worse for Leicester in the second half with Wes Morgan dismissed for a second bookable offence and Adam Smith then made it four, but at least James Maddison’s penalty and Marc Albrighton added some late consolation.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe knew as soon as he won promotion three years ago what was needed in attack and has now got it – pace.

“Coming into the Premier League it was something I identified we needed more of,” he said.

“We were solely a possession team in the Championship and we felt it was something we needed to change coming into this level. We’ve tried to recruit players to do that.

“It’s the biggest part of our game that has improved since our Championship days. As a centre-half, the one quality I didn’t want to play against was pace. So maybe I’ve used that in terms of how I’ve built my teams.

“I think it’s a massive commodity in football now and in the future it will only go even more that way. You need that in your team and we’re lucky we have it in a few areas.”

Leicester manager Claude Puel hinted afterwards that Maguire needs a break after a gruelling World Cup and playing every minute of the season so far took its toll. The defender had his worst performance in months where he was lucky to stay on the pitch after fouling King while on a booking and also at fault for the second goal.

“Perhaps the players didn’t have enough concentration because they were a little tired, he said. “It’s my responsibility to perhaps look at players who play all the time.”