Eddie Howe says Bournemouth can make 'history' by beating Liverpool at Anfield
Friday 8 February 2019 10:37, UK
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has challenged his players to make history when they face Liverpool on Saturday.
The Cherries have never won at Anfield, while Liverpool have not lost at home in the Premier League for more than a year.
Jurgen Klopp's side will be keen to return to winning ways after consecutive 1-1 draws against Leicester and West Ham, but Howe believes his side are capable of causing a major upset on Merseyside.
When asked about Bournemouth's poor record at Anfield, Howe said: "These things have always faced us before.
"In the Premier League every game when we first came into the league was a case of rewriting history and proving we could do things for the first time.
"I think we tend to look at these things as a nice thing to do, to try and write new history for the club all the time.
"Winning at Anfield is something we would love to do. No team has done it for a long period of time in the Premier League which goes to show how consistent Liverpool have been.
"Credit to them for what they've done to this point this season. From our side we want to put the Cardiff result to bed and really perform for our away fans."
Bournemouth recorded arguably the most impressive result in the club's history by beating Chelsea 4-0 on January 30 and Howe believes his side can trouble any team in the division.
"We've always proved that we can put our game together against these teams and produce some really strong performances," said Howe. "The results, that's always a difficult one to define.
"The Chelsea result was where everything came together with the result. There have been other games where we've performed really well and just missed out.
"We're going to have to defend well for long periods, but if we can show that mentality and desire to defend our goal then I believe we will have moments in the game to show what we were capable of going the other way."
Bournemouth will be without both David Brooks [ankle] and Callum Wilson [knee] for the trip to Anfield, while Jefferson Lerma faces a late fitness test.
Howe says Brooks and Wilson will be sidelined for another four weeks but believes he has the squad depth to cope with their loss.
"David has been to see a specialists and had scans, so I think around the four-week mark for him," said Howe.
"Callum, it's just a clean out of his knee, he's probably around the same mark. We're not going to be able to get them back earlier than that.
"[They are] big misses for us. Big misses for the team, for the group, they are big personalities for the group so we're keen to get them back fit.
"In the meantime, I believe we have the squad strength to cover those players."
