Andoni Iraola returned to Bournemouth and secured a narrow victory, with Alexander Isak (£9.1m) on the scoresheet. These are the Scout Notes from the Vitality Stadium.
It was not a pretty performance, but Isak’s precise finish proved the difference for Liverpool. After fine work by Cody Gakpo (£7.2m) down the flank, the ball ballooned into the air following Florian Wirtz’s (£7.3m) attempted flick-on. The Sweden international made no mistake, slotting home to break the deadlock before being booked for his celebrations. With his fourth strike of 2026/27, Isak has already surpassed last season’s Premier League goal tally of three after just five matches.
Wirtz was poor overall but did supply the assist for Isak’s winner. “He started the game slowly, I agree. The first minute they went quite intense and we were not quite with us. The duels in the middle. After that first phase, I think we improved. Florian has helped us also to improve. Second half he was playing much better, he was finding better spots to receive and turn. Probably we haven’t found the last part or moment to score but I think I’m much happier with his second half than his first one.” – Andoni Iraola on Florian Wirtz
Gakpo started down the right flank and was probably Liverpool’s best player after Jeremy Jacquet (£5.0m). “Cody especially, today he has been very important in both ways. Offensively, the difficult part of the goal is from him. But defensively, I know Adrien Truffert very well and he demands a lot from you defensively. He has also been playing a lot in the other side, and he’s an important player for us.” – Andoni Iraola on Cody Gakpo
Apart from a couple of free-kicks, including one that fizzed just wide of Djordje Petrovic’s (£4.5m) post, Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) was largely anonymous on the south coast. After a booking for a foul on Alex Scott (£6.1m) just after the restart, he made way for Ryan Gravenberch (£5.8m) in the 80th minute. With only six defensive contributions (DefCon) to his name on Sunday, the Hungarian midfielder has now delivered just 12 points in his last four matches. With Liverpool bottom of the ticker over the next six Gameweeks, Szoboszlai is already the third-most sold player since Friday’s deadline, with over 106,000 transfers out.
Liverpool kept their third clean sheet in a row on Sunday, with Jacquet particularly superb at the back. This run of shut-outs notably coincides with Ronald Araujo’s (£5.4m) deployment at right-back. “I think the more time – especially the defenders – they play together, I think it becomes more solid as a unit in the defensive line. I think Jeremy [Jacquet] and Virgil [van Dijk] with the help now of Ronald [Araujo] and Milos [Kerkez] are getting the connections. I think it’s becoming more solid and in the moments that you need to defend the result or they are putting you under pressure, I think we are looking solid.” – Andoni Iraola
Iraola also praised Jacquet, whose individual contributions helped preserve the Liverpool clean sheet. “I’m happy for him because he’s also received his first international call-up. He’s going with France and that is a big national team and I know that he is happy. He’s still very young, he is adapting really well to the Premier League. I think in the first games, physically he was feeling the change of rhythm, he was finishing with cramps, finishing really tired and we had to sub him. Today has been a step forward. He looked solid until the end and I think he’s finished physically also in a good place. I hope he can continue this development.” – Andoni Iraola on Jeremy Jacquet
Centre-back partner Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) banked DefCon points for the second match in a row at the Vitality Stadium. Bournemouth’s search for a first Premier League win under
Source: www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk — Read the original article
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