Bournemouth against Liverpool could be the game of the weekend and Arne Slot's side will need to put in the performance of champions to get a win against Andoni Iraola's high-flying outfit.

But Ian Wright has predicted that the Cherries will get the better of Liverpool — perhaps, as an Arsenal fan, at least as much in hope as expectation. Bournemouth has not lost since the end of November but the Reds have only been defeated once all season.

"Liverpool win that I think," Wright initially said on the Rest Is Football podcast brought to you by Sky Bet, surprising Roy Keane because he always picks Bournemouth to win. "Liverpool in this current climate are in 'we're going for it' mode."

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But Keane then talked him into a different prediction. "Are you a man or a mouse?" he said. Seconds after being insistent that Liverpool would win, Wright then picked 2-1 to Bournemouth as his guess.

"I'm going to always pick Bournemouth," he said, despite the fact he had just predicted the opposite, leaving Keane surprised. And no wonder — he changed his mind almost immediately, going for a bold scoreline on the south coast.

Liverpool was able to rest key players like Mohamed Salah, Ryan Gravenberch and Virgil van Dijk midweek, still finishing top of the Champions League group phase despite losing 3-2 against PSV. And those players have therefore had a full week's rest since the comfortable victory at Anfield over Ipswich Town.

Having lost just once in the Premier League this season — at home to Nottingham Forest in September — Liverpool will be hoping for another positive result. Last season in this fixture, it won 4-0 with braces from Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.

Liverpool.com says: Bournemouth will make things difficult but Liverpool can send a real statement by winning the game. If the Reds can get the three points, that will deflate Arsenal and really put the pressure on the Gunners ahead of them playing Manchester City on Sunday.