 and welcome to this week's preview show where BBC Radio Salon's Chris Temple is back from his travels in time for the Christmas rush. Here's what's coming up today. We'll be looking back at that defeat to Crystal Palace on Tuesday night before we then turn our attention to the weekend and the visit of Liverpool. Well, let's rewind the clock to Tuesday night, first of all. And Chris, you came back from New Zealand, you made it back in time for the game. I bet you wish you'd rather stayed there. I mean, you could say that. Yeah, you guys did brilliantly to get seven and a half minutes worth of highlights out on the website from that game, by the way, because first and foremost, statistically, if you follow things like expected goals, that was the worst quality Premier League game this season. 0.38 Palace, 0.34 Bournemouth on expected goals. So that is totally the worst game of the season. It was one of those nights where I'll be honest, I didn't feel like Bournemouth anything was going to work out. It just, particularly from halftime onwards, it's one of those where the harder you try, the more things don't work, the bounce of the ball wasn't working. It just does take one moment of magic. But the problem is at the moment, some of the attacking players are just short of that little bit of confidence and you didn't feel like anybody had that moment of magic in them. Palace obviously defended resolutely. I've always, when you've got Zahar and the team and Jordan and I, who I thought had a pretty good game leading the line on his own and the 10-man side as well, that you've always got that threat. But to concede a goal, it's pretty criminal. It goes without saying, doesn't it? The worst you need to do is get out with a nil-nil there. So to concede the goal was a disaster. But they could have played another 90 minutes and I honestly don't think Bournemouth had it in them to have the creativity that was needed to get past Palace. I mean, two shots on target in the whole game, one of which was deflected from Jefferson Lerma. It tells its own story. It's just a poor night. And let's discuss that red card. It was an awful challenge, wasn't it? But 70 minutes without, with an extra man, you just thought Bournemouth are going to go on and get something here. I'm going to be slightly different to a lot of other people. I didn't think it was actually as bad a challenge as a lot of other people said. Yes, it was high, of course it was. And yes, if Adam Smith's leg was planted, it could have been a bad one. It was a follow-through from a clearance. I don't think it was a malicious follow-through. It wasn't like his foot really went forward like that. It was just the momentum of the clearance. And I think in this day and age, when you're tackling that high or your foot is that high, you are, of course, going to run the risk of being sent off. I think it was a glancing contact with Adam Smith. I could see why it was a red card and I could see why VAI didn't intervene. But I've seen worse this season. I mean, I'll always refer to Tealamans and Callum Wilson at Leicester. It was miles worse than that. So yeah, it wasn't a great tackle. It wasn't the worst one you'll see this season. Probably a red card was right. But as you say, the grand scheme of it was 70 minutes against 10 men. You've got to produce something. It's not the first time Bournemouth has struggled against 10. And Eddie said after the game, they work on 11 against 10 so often, you know, regularly as their training exercise is working on, you know, not necessarily 11 against 10, playing a man down on the things you need to do to combat that. If they had worked on it, you wouldn't have known. And talking of, you know, the game in the week, we saw Steve Cook. He wasn't there. And I think, you know, we already know how important he is to Bournemouth. But that game on Tuesday night probably highlighted it even more, didn't it? Yeah, and I think when things aren't happening at one end of the pitch, that's when you do need your leaders, generally, and the team, you know, as well as the defensive sort of rock-solid partnership that himself and Nathan Ake have formed this season or sort of grown into this season. Yeah, you do need your leaders around the pitch to keep everybody's minds on the job, to keep everybody's spirits up, because it is a game of patience as well, as it often is against 10. You've got to be chipping away, not panic, not try and do everything too soon. The problem was that sort of, in a way, Bournemouth didn't have enough urgency in the end. They sort of coasted their way through the 70 minutes. And without really thinking, well, we're going to start running out of time at some point. So, yeah, to go back to your point, Steve Cook's a huge miss, leadership-wise, defensively-wise, and at the moment, we don't know how long he's going to be out, but you're expecting to miss at least the next two or three games. Big chance for Chris Meppam to come in, if that is what Eddie Persevere's with. We've seen Simon Francis play centre half as well. Adam Smith, obviously, is now injured as well, so there's another question mark there to Simon Francis come in, or does Jack Stacey come in? Yes, it never rains at pause, as they say. Well, I was going to ask you about Adam Smith. The 90-second minute, he goes into a challenge and comes off second best, and that kind of summed up the night. He couldn't finish the game, and it was a disaster, really, from start to finish. Yeah, he would have definitely had better nights. He was getting stick, of course, from the Palace fans for his role in the sending-off, all in the first half, so that he obviously got a bit of stick when he ended up getting injured himself in pretty much the same area of the pitch, actually, as well, so bad luck for him. I mean, he's had those sort of innocuous and sort of problems that have seemingly been nothing and have ended up keeping him out for six weeks at times, so, yeah, you feel sorry for him, for sure, and the fact that Cherries have now got two other fit right backs, that is one positive. The other side of it is that you could have seen Adam Smith switch into left back, because Diego Rico, you know, I know he's had a good season compared to his efforts last season, but you wonder whether there's a time for him to possibly have a rest and come out, particularly with his busy schedule of games coming up, and that would have meant Adam Smith moving to left back, because there wasn't really anybody else. Lloyd Kelly, not fit. So, yeah, that takes that option away as well now. So it's Francis or Stacey, it's sort of Francis Stacey or Meppam to fill two of the spots available in the back four. Absolutely. Well, next up for the Cherries is a visit of Liverpool to Vitality Stadium, and we are supporting Stonewall's Rainbow Latest campaign at tomorrow's game. Last season, you told us that homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia were the most experienced forms of discrimination at the Vitality Stadium. It also remains true that not everyone feels that they can be themselves at work or at football without worrying about if they will be accepted. We are committed to being a football club. Where all staff and players can perform to their best ability, and all supporters can enjoy the match experience, but we need everyone to share this commitment to make this a reality. That's why we are encouraging everyone who wants to share our future to become an ally. We are open-minded. We are listeners. We are supportive. We are inclusive. We are willing to talk. We are allies. We are allies. We are allies. We are allies. Well, everyone here at AFC Bournemouth is pleased to be supporting the Rainbow Latest campaign with our We Are Allies theme. Now then, next up is the visit of Liverpool, and it doesn't get any easier, does it, Chris? I mean, of all the games you want, Liverpool at home scored five in midweek, could have scored eight. I'm gonna put a positive spin there, of course I am, and again, we'll get criticised for being too positive at times when you've just lost four in a row. Bournemouth's inconsistency could be a big weapon here, because they are inconsistent, that's one of the things Eddie's levelled. You never quite know which team's gonna turn up, and from that point of view, having lost four in a row, played as badly as they did at Palace on Tuesday, they could quite easily turn up and put in the sort of performance tomorrow that has sold and beat Manchester United. It could easily happen. Of course, the resources-wise, it's a lot different in terms of the players available than just the general spirit around the places. At the moment, you know, a lot more difficult spell they've been in before. You need absolutely everything to go right. Liverpool, of course, rested Salah, rested Firmino, rested Jordan Henderson, you know, a few others in midweek. They boldly made a few changes in that game. Sadio Mane might have the weekend off, that's one positive I can throw in. He looked a bit of a well-beater in midweek and has done this season. Mo Salah's not been in quite as good form this season, he's only got six goals. So, yeah, Liverpool are absolutely top of their game. They've moved on another level this season. They've left City and the rest trailing in their wake at the moment. Premier League is obviously their focus because they've already won the Champions League, so if they could win that again, bonus, but not having won the Premier League in the best part of 30 years, then that's the one they're going for. And they're coming here absolutely, you know, flying. So it's a daunting task, but as the cliché will go, any game in the Premier League, anything can happen. Brighton win at Arsenal, I know Arsenal are not having a great trot. There's been some shot results this season already. And as you say, it's almost a case of nothing to lose, isn't it? Because Liverpool flying at the top of the league, unbeaten this season and they look in such good form that might as well go and give it a go. And that's been Eddie's message. Eddie's message today in the press conference was we've got to come out swinging, which, you know, that's what the fans want to see. The fans want to see an all-action effort. And I think the obvious thing to criticise is often the player's effort levels. But I don't think you can ever say that no player is 100%, giving 100%. Like, they're chasing everything. Sometimes it's just the decisions that, whether it's the frame of mind, anything else that's just not quite there, it affects the decisions, the pressure of the game atmosphere. But I don't think you can ever say that players aren't trying. So what the fans want to see is the spark. They want to see the spark back tomorrow. Let's take it to Liverpool. That's what they've got to do. But at the same time, obviously, balancing that with being slightly careful at the other end. You know, the memories of the 4-3 dig deep and find those. Liverpool, of course, weren't quite the force then that they are now. But Manchester City were given a decent game here this season. Manchester United were turned over here this season. Arsenal, you know, that could have been different away from home. I know they're having a bad trot. So with the next two games coming up, Chelsea away next weekend, I think Bournemouth fans would be expecting to probably get nothing from both games. What they want to see is a performance with a bit of fight. Hopefully the spark come back because there's a winnable run of games coming up either side of Christmas. You know, Arsenal is the hardest of those games and they're in a bad run at the moment. They may well have a new manager by then, of course. So let's find some, you know, get the cogs oiled and turning ahead of what is a big period coming up into the new year. And one thing that's worth mentioning about Liverpool, they've got such a busy schedule coming up, you know, they've got a huge Champions League game in the week, which they've got to win. Then they've got the Club World Cup, they've got a League Cup game, plus Premier League around all of those. So is there any chance that one eye could be on those games? Every chance, yeah, absolutely. But then I think, as we mentioned, the Premier League is their number one focus. So actually, I think they're more likely to, you know, prioritise this game against Bournemouth than the Club World Cup or anything else, because those are, you know, notional games, aren't they? Really, it's a nice trophy to have, but it's not on the menu at the start of the season as important, really. So as long as they get the three points, there's no point resting players for the Club World Cup if you're going to draw here, for example, because that's two huge points dropped. Undefeated in 32 games in the Premier League, I mean, let's put it into context. Only failed to win one of their games this season. Eight points clear of Leicester at the top. You know, the amount of times we've stood here and sort of cranked up the opposition, as if to say there's no way Bournemouth can get anything, but this is where I come back to the inconsistency. Bournemouth could quite easily find that performance from somewhere. We might stand here looking stupid next week. They might get done four or five. That, again, can easily happen and they wouldn't be the first or the last team to suffer that fate. So let's be positive that, unfortunately, with the injury list, you know, it's harder to look positively than it normally is. And, you know, we look at Liverpool squad. It's impossible to pick out one player that's, you know, going to be the one to watch. But as you said earlier, Salah's been rested. Firmino's been rested. Mane, perhaps, could he be rested this weekend? It's just such a talented squad, isn't it? Yeah, I think they've got, you know, people like LaLana coming in, Olex Oxlade-Chamberlain coming in, who's got himself back in the England squad. Obviously, they've lost Matip, who was, you know, formed a good partnership with Van Dijk. He would be the first-choice centre-half pairing. So we might see Joe Gomez, for example, here, England player as well. We might see Kiter playing in centrum and feel possibly as well as one of those who's been a little bit short of match time. Jordan Henderson was rested the other night. So, yeah, I mean, what a squad. Firmino got off the bench the other night. Salah was completely rested. So I think we'll see both of those. But, yeah, I mean, there'll be chinks. The fallbacks are one thing that Bournemouth will have to get hold of as well. Alexander-Anneald on the right. Robertson on the left. You know, what a force they are in terms of Liverpool's attacking game. So whoever does play in the fallback positions for Bournemouth or the wide positions, and will come onto Bournemouth's unavailabilities in a moment, but certainly can have a job on. Well, you mentioned it there, Bournemouth's unavailabilities. Joshua King, not fit. And then we've got Steve Cook, not fit. Junior Stanislas training this week, but not fit, same with Andrew Serman. The list is slowly getting longer, isn't it? Adam Smith to add to that as well. From the night we've already mentioned, David Brooks has obviously gone backwards a little bit, unfortunately. And Harry Wilson, not eligible to play because he's on loan from Liverpool. So that's one that they'll have known about all season. But of course, in terms of timing, it's pretty bad timing with everybody else unavailable. So yeah, in terms of options, you know, in the squad, the central midfield area, you know, Lermer and Billing in midweek, it didn't really work for them. They bought Lewis Cook on late on to try and sort of unlock the door. Lewis Cook's one who's got that bit of fire on his belly. I wonder if they might bring him back in as someone to just mix it a little bit in there. I'm not sure Phil Billing's quite hit the levels in the last few games that he did maybe at the start of the season. So yeah, wide positions, Fraser got left out, came on, didn't manage to impact it really, but Harry Wilson not available. So you'd think Fraser and Dan June were wide. Selankey, I just, I'm just hoping it's going to happen for him that sooner, his former club, of course, Liverpool. So he would be lovely. It would be lovely for him to score. Callum needs someone to break for him. So yeah, there's lots of areas at the moment that could do with just a little nudge in the right direction. Well, never say never. If you are coming to the game tomorrow, you can have a go at predicting the score in Manchester's new predict six game. Just head over to their website to have your say. That's all we've got time for today. If you are coming to Vitality Stadium tomorrow, then have a safe journey here. But if not, make sure you listen to Chris on BBC Radio Salon for full live commentary. Bye for now.