EPL 2016/17: Liverpool 2-2 Bournemouth, 5 Talking Points

Liverpool drew with Bournemouth at Anfield, where a minute’s tribute was given to the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

 

 

Liverpool played their second Premier League match at Anfield in 5 days as Bournemouth rolled over to Merseyside. Benik Afobe put the Cherries ahead before Philippe Coutinho scored the equaliser in the first-half. Liverpool came out fighting in the second-half to take the lead through Divock Origi but a late equaliser from Josh King meant Eddie Howe’s side left with a valuable away point.

The result ensures Liverpool stay in 3^rd place for now, while Bournemouth are safe from relegation in 13^th place. However, Liverpool continue to fail to see off teams from the bottom-half of the table and it could cost a top 4 spot as well.

Here are 5 talking points from the match.

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#1 Liverpool and set-pieces

Liverpool threatened to score a number of times from set-pieces but failed to in the end

One of the perennial problems for Liverpool in recent years is dealing with set-pieces. Time and time again, the Reds are exposed while defending set-pieces with the previous match against Everton being another case where Liverpool’s passive defending led to Everton equalising in the first-half.

Liverpool showed that they have not learned from previous mistakes when they allowed Bournemouth attacker Marc Pugh a free shot at the back post from a corner near the 20-minute mark and were lucky that Pugh could not punish them.

However, similar to the game against Manchester United where Liverpool targeted Paul Pogba’s poor marking ability to finally win a penalty, Liverpool proved threatening from set-pieces against the Cherries. Dejan Lovren was a fraction late at the back post to tap in a free ball in the opening minutes.

Divock Origi had another good chance with his weaker left foot at the far post as Liverpool’s corner routine of directing the ball to the far post with a near post header making it difficult for Bournemouth to deal with.

After Bournemouth equalised in the second-half as Liverpool failed to deal with the second ball, Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan came close to winning the game for Liverpool from set-pieces but for the finishing touches.