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THIS time, two weeks ago, Jordan Zemura, was down with Covid-19 and OUT of the massive test at the home of champions, Manchester City, at the Etihad.
As expected, his Cherries were no match for the slick Citizens as goals by Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and Jefferson Lerma powered the champions to a 4-0 win.
This time, last week, JZ was back in contention, but the opposition was just as formidable as the Citizens.
After all, a gaffer, who cut his milk teeth in coaching at City, under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, was coming to town with his high-flying Gunners.
As expected, Bournemouth, even with Zemura back into the fold, were no match for Arsenal and, by the end of the contest, had crashed to a 0-3 defeat.
It could have been a carbon copy of their defeat at City had an effort by Gabriel Jesus not been ruled out in the second half.
This week, JZ is once again in contention, for a place on the left side of the Bournemouth defence, after being rested for their midweek Carabao Cup match.
The opposition, just like in the last two league matches, could not have come any stronger.
The Cherries visit Anfield for a showdown against Liverpool.
City, Gunners and the Reds, in consecutive league matches, two away from home
and one in their backyard, represents a tough run.
Any hope for JZ and his teammates?
Well, the last time Liverpool lost at home, in a league match, was against a team under the guidance of Scott Parker, who is now the Bournemouth manager.
On March 7, last year, Parker guided Fulham to a shock 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield.
Mario Lemina, a Gabonese international, scored the only goal of the match.
Incredibly, it was the sixth straight home loss for the Reds, during a poor run, for the then defending champions.
Ahead of the match against the Citizens, Parker noted the difficult task which his men would have to deal with, in their next league matches.
“Now, we are going into a difficult few fixtures, but these are the challenges we are going to embrace and we are going to take on,” he told The Independent newspaper.
“It is a challenge that we are looking forward to and one that we are going to embrace.
“We are going to bring the best we can bring with us and try and get something.”
It’s yet another huge challenge for Zemura and his teammates, especially after they were torn apart by the Gunners, in their own backyard, last weekend.
And, it appears, Klopp is ready to make changes to his team as he battles to find a spark.
The manager has hinted he has, at least, mulled over a re-think over his tactical structure but a lack of fit and available front players has denied him the opportunity to move to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
“We have, at the moment, five senior midfielders, and we have to start with three,” he said after the defeat at United.
“We could start with two if we had more attackers but we only have three attackers, so it means we have to start with three and change during the game.
“How we want to start and how we want to change, we have to think before the game. That’s the only reason for it.”
That, naturally, leads to the question over whether tomorrow becomes the perfect testing ground to tweak the system in an attempt to inject some attacking verve into a side who have so far been curiously bereft of any real intent in the final third. – Sports Reporter/Liverpool Echo
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter