Match ends, Bournemouth 0, Liverpool 3.
Liverpool moved 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League with a comfortable win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, one of seven changes for the Reds, opened the scoring after a brilliant long-range pass from Jordan Henderson.
Naby Keita made it 2-0 before the break, slotting in with the outside of his foot after Mohamed Salah set him up with a sublime backheel.
Keita then turned provider for Salah as Liverpool eased to victory.
It extends Liverpool's club record unbeaten run to 33 league games and they have won 15 of 16 Premier League matches this season.
The Cherries have now lost five consecutive matches and were dealt more bad news when Nathan Ake and Callum Wilson were both forced off with injuries either side of half-time.
Leicester City, Liverpool's nearest rivals at the top of the league table, do not play until 14:00 GMT on Sunday, when they travel to Aston Villa.
- How Liverpool's win played out
- What happened elsewhere on Saturday?
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Reds cruise to another win
There is an air of invincibility about Liverpool this season, as they continue to chase their first league title for 30 years.
Saturday's victory at the Vitality was so routine - though the early loss of Ake to injury weakened an already struggling Bournemouth back four.
But the Reds played with a swagger and a dominance which would have surely pleased manager Jurgen Klopp greatly.
They picked up their first clean sheet in 14 games and found new Premier League goalscorers in Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita - the 15th and 16th players to score in the competition for Liverpool this season.
Going into the match, Klopp said "being top at Christmas is not important", but with a crucial Champions League game against Red Bull Salzburg coming up on Tuesday, the fact Liverpool have such a commanding lead over their domestic rivals at this stage means he has been able to rotate players to keep them fresh.
Sadio Mane, the orchestrator of Liverpool's 5-2 Merseyside derby victory over Everton on Wednesday, was an unused substitute alongside centre-forward Divock Origi, while 18-year-old Curtis Jones came on for his Premier League debut.
All in all, it was a successful afternoon for Liverpool, who just keep getting the job done.
Injuries piling up for Bournemouth
Eddie Howe's side were taught a lesson by the league leaders, but any hopes of an upset had been wiped away early on when centre-back Ake pulled up clutching his hamstring after making a superb last-ditch tackle on Salah.
The Dutchman was replaced by Jack Simpson, but his disappointment was clear as he trudged off the pitch and he was comforted by Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, a Netherlands team-mate.
Bournemouth were already without eight first-team players because of injury going into Saturday's game, including another regular centre-back Steve Cook.
Liverpool drew blood almost immediately after Ake's afternoon had ended prematurely - Oxlade-Chamberlain coolly slotting Henderson's fine long-range pass into the near corner.
Nine minutes later, Salah's backheel to set up Keita was far too good for the three defenders gathered around him on the edge of the box, and the Egyptian's goal - Liverpool's third - came 10 minutes before Bournemouth striker Wilson then had to be replaced.
It depends on the extent of their injuries, but Ake and Wilson could miss the Cherries' trip to fourth-placed Chelsea next Saturday - which is already going to be a tough task for Howe's team.
They are in 15th place, one point above the relegation zone, and have potentially crucial fixtures against Burnley and Brighton coming up this month too, with one against Arsenal sandwiched in between.
Man of the match - Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
'All round nearly perfect day'
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe, speaking to Match of the Day: "I don't like to use injuries as an excuse, but there comes a time when you have to look at the situation and the teams we are playing. We lost another two players today. It is what it is.
"The squad is stretched. It is there to cope with the injuries but the difficulty for us is we are getting injuries but not getting players back.
"The mentality of the group is strong but damaged in confidence. We can always do better. We can always question ourselves and say we could have done better today, but the quality of the opposition was very strong.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, speaking to Match of the Day: "It was a professional performance - controlled, scoring wonderful goals. We didn't want to make it exciting again, so we wanted to control Bournemouth.
"The most used word in the dressing room at the moment is 'clean sheet '...finally! [The injury to defender] Dejan Lovren was hopefully cramp but apart from that it was a perfect game. All round, nearly perfect day."
Salah has 63 in 100 - the best of the stats
- Liverpool have won 24 of their past 25 Premier League matches and have scored two or more goals in 23 of those.
- Bournemouth have become the first side to lose five consecutive top-flight meetings with Liverpool by a margin of three or more goals. They have lost those five games by a combined score of 17-0.
- The Reds did not allow Bournemouth a shot on target on Saturday, which is only the second time they have done so in a league match since the start of last season (also against Brighton in January).
- The Cherries have lost five straight matches for the first time in the top flight. They last lost as many league matches in a row in March 2013 when in League One.
- Salah scored his 63rd goal in his 100th Premier League appearance - only Alan Shearer (79), Ruud van Nistelrooy (68) and Sergio Aguero (64) scored more in their first 100 games in the competition.
- Salah has scored more Premier League goals against Bournemouth (seven) than any other opponent, and has netted in all five of his appearances against the Cherries in the competition.
- Oxlade-Chamberlain scored his first goal in 25 Premier League appearances for Liverpool. He last netted in the competition against Manchester City in January 2018, one year and 327 days ago.
What's next?
Bournemouth travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the Premier League on 14 December (15:00 GMT).
Liverpool travel to Austria to play Red Bull Salzburg in their final Champions League group game on Tuesday (17:55), before hosting Watford in the league on 14 December (12:30).
Line-ups
Bournemouth
Formation 4-4-2
- 12Ramsdale
- 2Francis
- 33Mepham
- 5AkéSubstituted forSimpsonat 35'minutes
- 21Rico
- 14Danjuma Groeneveld
- 8Lerma
- 29BillingSubstituted forL Cookat 58'minutes
- 24Fraser
- 9Solanke
- 13WilsonSubstituted forGoslingat 64'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Boruc
- 4Gosling
- 6Surman
- 10Ibe
- 16L Cook
- 17Stacey
- 25Simpson
Liverpool
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Alisson
- 12GomezBooked at 39mins
- 6LovrenSubstituted forAlexander-Arnoldat 40'minutes
- 4van Dijk
- 26RobertsonSubstituted forJonesat 76'minutes
- 8Keita
- 14Henderson
- 7Milner
- 11Salah
- 9Firmino
- 15Oxlade-ChamberlainSubstituted forShaqiriat 87'minutes
Substitutes
- 10Mané
- 13Adrián
- 23Shaqiri
- 27Origi
- 48Jones
- 66Alexander-Arnold
- 67Elliott
- Referee:
- Chris Kavanagh
- Attendance:
- 10,832
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home26%
- Away74%
- Shots
- Home3
- Away21
- Shots on Target
- Home0
- Away9
- Corners
- Home1
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home5
- Away6
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Bournemouth 0, Liverpool 3.
Post update
Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Aaron Ramsdale.
Post update
Attempt saved. Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Mohamed Salah.
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Naby Keita (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Lewis Cook (Bournemouth).
Post update
Attempt missed. Curtis Jones (Liverpool) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top left corner. Assisted by Xherdan Shaqiri.
Substitution
Substitution, Liverpool. Xherdan Shaqiri replaces Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Naby Keita.
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Joseph Gomez (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Dan Gosling (Bournemouth).
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Attempt blocked. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Naby Keita.
Post update
Attempt missed. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left.
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Offside, Liverpool. Trent Alexander-Arnold tries a through ball, but Mohamed Salah is caught offside.
Substitution
Substitution, Liverpool. Curtis Jones replaces Andrew Robertson.
Post update
Attempt saved. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Jordan Henderson.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld (Bournemouth) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lewis Cook.
Post update
Offside, Bournemouth. Jefferson Lerma tries a through ball, but Diego Rico is caught offside.
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Foul by Joseph Gomez (Liverpool).
Post update
Aaron Ramsdale (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Comments
Join the conversation
Fantastic!
UP arrow if you think Liverpool will win the title.
Top of The Perch
European Champions
25 pts ahead of Utd
Ruining the haters Weekends again: Priceless!
Nice early present too; guaranteed top for Xmas. No VAR decision, no controversy; safe, controlled win, with a clean sheet (at long last!). Must be getting awkward for the doomsayers forecasting a December collapse..
Well Joe Gomez, looks like your opportunity has arrived. Hopefully Lovren will be back soon; he's done well
Now for a chuckle in Manchester..
Easy this football lark 😁
All without Europe's best attacker Mane
Eat it up haters 😂😂
Feel for Bournemouth though, never nice to lose a player.
"Liverpool - 6 times Champions of Europe but never been Champions of their own domestic league.
Astonishing."
astonishing that you don't know Liverpool have won the English league 18 times...soon to be 19....
I'm finally getting the hang of this HYS malarkey.
Hope Degsy is ok and recovers quickly.
Feel for Howe, I like he Cherries they need some luck with all the injuries they are getting.
Reds march on.