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The 2025-26 Premier League season is set to kick off on Friday, with the opening match taking place at Anfield.

Liverpool will begin its title defence against Bournemouth.

Last season, under the guidance of highly-rated manager Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth performed admirably, finishing ninth.



Bournemouth then lost Illia Zabarnyi, Huijsen's center-back partner from last season, to Paris Saint-Germain.

In response, the Cherries quickly bolstered their defence by signing Bafode Diakite from Lille.

Despite the influx of new signings being available for Friday's match, Bournemouth manager Iraola may be missing up to five key players.

Justin Kluivert, last season's joint top scorer, is likely to miss out due to a calf injury sustained in the first preseason game.

Following Saturday's friendlies with Real Sociedad, Iraola commented: "Justin is going slower than we thought.

But he's not training with us still."

Forward Luis Sinisterra and midfielder Ryan Christie were both anticipated to have returned to training this week, however, their chances of playing against the Reds seem slim given their absence from pre-season.

Iraola continued: "Sini has started training with us

It's not like he's starting from zero.

"But the plan is that Monday if everything goes well he starts with the team and I think Sini, Ryan could be let's say training with us next week