After dominating Marseille in midweek, Liverpool now turn their attention back to the Premier League for an away meeting with Bournemouth.
Hope has been restored at Anfield after Arne Slot’s system change not only saw the Reds win, but also actually play well across the 90 minutes.
However, Liverpool’s performances in the Premier League of late have been less than inspiring.
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Will Liverpool get their first Premier League win of 2026 vs Bournemouth?
Federico Chiesa celebrates after scoring for Liverpool in the Premier League against Bournemouth at Anfield (Credit: Getty Images/Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA
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A 1-1 draw with Burnley last time out just about kept the Merseyside outfit in the top four, but that could easily change with defeat to Bournemouth.
On paper, though, Liverpool should be heavy favourites given how much their squad costs compared to the Cherries.
How much did Liverpool’s squad cost compared to Bournemouth
Bournemouth have done an excellent job of cementing themselves as a mainstay in the English top-flight over the last several years.
But as is the case with every mid-table side, their spending power, especially compared to a side like Liverpool, is limited.
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We have already seen Antoine Semenyo move to Manchester City this winter, while Milos Kerkez was sold to the Premier League champions in the summer.
Even when selling off some of their best players, though, Bournemouth still don’t have the financial capability to match Liverpool.
Rousing The Kop have spoken exclusively to finance expert Adam Williams about the huge gap between the two sides.
Breaking down Liverpool’s squad costs compared to Bournemouth, he said: “The Deloitte Football Money League, which ranks clubs according to revenue, came out this week. It showed that Liverpool’s revenue was about £730m in 2024-25, which we otherwise wouldn’t have known because they haven’t yet filed their accounts.
“It also showed that they spent somewhere in the region of £438m on wages. The Money League doesn’t break down transfer amortisation, which is how clubs account for the costs of new signings and agents’ fees over a player’s contract length, but it probably remained reasonably steady at around £100-115m. Clearly, after the business they did in the summer, both the wages and transfer amortisation are going to have exploded. I think we’re probably looking at amortisation of around £200m and a wage bill of at least £460m at the very least, depending on how far they get in the Champions League with its associated bonuses.
“Maybe 25 per cent of that wage bill is for non-first-team staff, so let’s say the first-team wage bill is £345m. That gives them an annual squad cost – which is the metric that UEFA and now the Premier League use to assess compliance with spending rules – of nearly £550m. We don’t have Bournemouth’s up-to-date accounts, but the 2023-24 data shows that they spend £136m on wages, so probably £100m on the first team. Then, their transfer amortisation was £62m, giving them an annual squad cost of approximately £164m, so £386m less than Liverpool.
“Now, these are imperfect metrics and won’t be spot-on. However, even with a big margin for error in Bournemouth’s favour, the numbers show the spending disparity between the two clubs. Bournemouth finished 28 points behind Liverpool last season. If you use these crude metrics as your starting point, Liverpool spent around £14m per point more than Bournemouth.
“I think you can use these kinds of statistics to illustrate two points. 1) it’s remarkable that the sporting gap between giants like Liverpool and relative minnows like Bournemouth isn’t larger and 2) at the elite end of the spectrum, there are diminishing returns the more you spend. It’s something akin to the Laffer Curve they use in economic analysis.”
Who’s your XI to beat Bournemouth on Saturday?
Does Salah start again?
Liverpool Predicted XI vs Bournemouth
RTK Predicted XI vs Bournemouth
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Liverpool’s revenue compared to Arsenal and Manchester City
While Liverpool may have the highest wages in the Premier League right now, their impressive revenue has enabled FSG to spend so much.
Manchester City are the Reds’ closest rivals in terms of revenue, with their 2025 figure sitting at £723.7m.
Current league leaders Arsenal rank seventh in the overall list (£717.06m), followed by Manchester United (£691.3m), Tottenham Hotspur (£586.2m) and Chelsea (£509.2m).
Real Madrid boasted the highest revenue of any club in the world in 2025, taking home £1.01bn.
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