Liverpool go to the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, kick-off 14:00 BST, and the Premier League fixture list has handed Andoni Iraola the one return he could not avoid. He spent three years at Bournemouth, left for Anfield in the summer, and goes back for the first time on Sunday.

The table gives the afternoon a second story. Liverpool have six points from four, one win and three draws. Bournemouth have three points from the same four, having drawn three and lost one, and are still waiting for a first top-flight win under Iraola's successor, Marco Rose. It is the last league weekend before the international break.

Iraola will hug them first, then try to beat them

Asked how he felt about going back, Iraola did not pretend the week had been ordinary.

On the personal side, I'm really looking forward to meeting them, to hug them, it's players that I love, staff that I have been working with, that I appreciate so much.

Andoni Iraola, speaking at Liverpool's pre-match press conference

He had been willing Bournemouth on in Thursday's Europa League tie, he said, and then drew a line under it. There was another part, and it was the more important one: go there, beat them, be as ruthless as possible, and leave the talking until afterwards.

The familiarity runs both ways. Bournemouth have barely changed, he said: much the same starting XI, Marcos Senesi replaced by a similar player in Antonio Silva, and a philosophy he had discussed with Rose before leaving. “It's going to be a tricky one because they obviously know very well what we try to do, on the ball and without the ball,” he said. “But I also have this advantage – I know their strengths, their weaknesses.”

Four out, and two days more rest

Conor Bradley, Federico Chiesa, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni remain unavailable, and Liverpool reported no fresh fitness problems. Joe Gomez, who came back from an injury lay-off to start against Tottenham in midweek, will reach 300 appearances for the club with his next one.

For once the schedule favours Liverpool. They beat Tottenham 3-1 in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday; Bournemouth were in San Sebastián on Thursday, winning 2-1 at Real Sociedad for the first European victory in the club's history. Most of the time it has been the opposite, Iraola said; this time Liverpool played two days before Bournemouth did.

Rose's own press conference was held before that trip, so his squad update predates it. He said everyone was in a good spot and that he would rotate and select after Thursday, which leaves the home XI as the part nobody outside the club can call. Goal's preview notes that Bournemouth have led in all four league games and won none, which is a particular way to be winless.

A fourth draw in five would be a familiar way to reach the break

Three points take Liverpool to nine from five. A draw leaves them on seven and makes it four draws in five, after the goalless afternoon against Fulham that ended their last league outing. For Bournemouth, three points would be a first league win of the season, and a first under Rose.