Liverpool dropped points by conceding in stoppage time for the fifth time in the Premier League this season, with Amine Adli netting a late winner for Bournemouth
04:00, 25 Jan 2026
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
When Amine Adli poked the ball into the back of the net deep into stoppage time, there was a feeling of deja vu for Liverpool.
Reds boss Arne Slot joked a few weeks ago that his team has been consistent this season — but not in the sense that anyone would hope. Indeed, it is now five times in the Premier League this season that his side has conceded in the 90th minute or later, costing a combined total of seven points. Who knows how decisive that might be when the final standings are drawn.
Here, Liverpool was simply unable to cope with a Bournemouth team that had won just one of its last 14 heading into this fixture. The Cherries raised their game here, but the Reds — by lowering their levels so much — allowed things to unravel far too easily.
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Even Virgil van Dijk was at fault as Liverpool lacked urgency at the back. And it spoke volumes for how things were going at that stage of the game that his error led to Joe Gomez getting injured.
Liverpool simply can’t afford any more absentees in its defense, so Slot must now sweat on a fresh problem. Gomez limped around for a bit, and Bournemouth swiftly took advantage.
Had Slot got his wish, Alisson Becker would have put the ball out so that Wataru Endo could come on. Instead, the Reds — playing with 10 men — went two down.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
When you are defensively struggling, the right approach is to go back to basics. Liverpool went so far back in time, however, that it produced some calamitous schoolboy errors.
In recent weeks, ironically, the Reds have been better at the back. The criticism has been that the emphasis has swung so far that way, the goals have dried up at the other end.
Here, it was the opposite. Liverpool’s defensive weakness was glaring, and its bluntness in attack meant that there was no margin for error — let alone two or three.
Joe Gomez makes his way off the pitch after picking up an injury in Liverpool's game against Bournemouth
Joe Gomez makes his way off the pitch after picking up an injury in Liverpool's game against Bournemouth(Image: Getty Images)
"It is a cruel game if you lose in extra time after coming back from 2-0 down at half-time," Slot told BBC Match of the Day.
"I think it was only 5-10 minutes in the first half where we didn't have total control. We played through them nicely a few times but we conceded twice and we went down to 10 men so that doesn't help.
"It felt to me that if we were able to make up the 2-1, we would have been back in the game. We were a lot of the time in promising positions but we were 2-0 down and it did feel to me that we were going to score and get back in the game.
"It is fair to say that in the last 10 minutes, it was more open, but I could see that my players were tired because we only had two days in between each game."
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The stats tell a different story, though. Liverpool was simply not in that much control throughout the game; Bournemouth had six Opta-defined 'big' chances to the visitors' one, and generated 2.30 expected goals versus 0.83.
At both ends, Liverpool was far from perfect. A lack of freshness is perhaps, to an extent, an explanation, but then the Reds should have ensured they had a big enough roster to be able to cope.
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Frankly, even if it's incredibly unlikely to happen this winter, Liverpool has to buy more players and increase the number of options it has available. Yes, there are injuries, but not enough to justify falling into such a crisis. Federico Chiesa, one of the five sidelined for this game, isn't a genuine contender to be a starter anyway.
Just days after a superb Champions League victory midweek in Marseille, in many ways, this was back to square one again. Until Slot has at least one extra player in defense, midfield, and attack, however, the inconsistency is likely to continue.