Andoni Iraola will return to the Vitality Stadium today when Liverpool travel to face Bournemouth in a Premier League clash with plenty of personal significance for the Reds boss. The Spaniard spent three seasons on the south coast, taking charge of 127 matches and guiding Bournemouth to their highest-ever league finish before leaving for Liverpool in the summer.
Iraola will now face the club he helped transform, but his record against Liverpool during his Bournemouth tenure makes for interesting reading.
Iraola's Record Against Liverpool
Iraola faced Liverpool seven times while managing Bournemouth across the Premier League and EFL Cup.
Here is how those encounters played out:
August 19, 2023: Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth — Premier League
November 1, 2023: Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool — EFL Cup
January 21, 2024: Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool — Premier League
September 21, 2024: Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth — Premier League
February 1, 2025: Bournemouth 0-2 Liverpool — Premier League
August 15, 2025: Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth — Premier League
January 24, 2026: Bournemouth 3-2 Liverpool — Premier League
Overall, the record is heavily in Liverpool's favour. Across those seven meetings, Bournemouth won once, drew none and lost six. Liverpool scored 20 goals across the encounters, while Bournemouth found the net eight times.
Liverpool Dominated the Head-to-Head
The numbers demonstrate just how difficult Liverpool were for Iraola's Bournemouth.
The Cherries suffered four-goal defeats in two of the first three meetings, losing 4-0 at the Vitality Stadium in January 2024 after already being beaten 3-1 at Anfield earlier in the campaign.
Liverpool then recorded another comfortable 3-0 victory at Anfield in September 2024 before winning 2-0 on the south coast in February 2025.
Even when Bournemouth appeared to be improving against the Reds, Liverpool continued to have the upper hand. Their 4-2 victory at Anfield in August 2025 came after Bournemouth had initially fought back to make it 2-2.
However, the final meeting between Iraola's Bournemouth and Liverpool produced a very different story.
Iraola Had the Final Laugh
When the sides met for the final time during Iraola's Bournemouth tenure in January 2026, the Cherries finally turned the tables.
Bournemouth produced a memorable 3-2 victory over Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium, giving Iraola his only win against the Reds as Bournemouth manager.
That result is particularly worth remembering ahead of today's encounter because it demonstrated that Iraola's old side could eventually find a way to hurt Liverpool.
A Fascinating Reunion at the Vitality
Iraola knows Bournemouth extremely well, having spent three years building his team, implementing his methods and developing players who became accustomed to his tactical approach.
But that familiarity works both ways.
The Bournemouth players who remain from his tenure also know Iraola's methods, tendencies and tactical preferences inside out. That could make today's encounter even more fascinating, particularly with Liverpool now adopting the ideas of the manager who previously guided the Cherries.
Although Liverpool overwhelmingly dominate Iraola's record against them, the fact that he had the final laugh in their last meeting is certainly worth noting.
One thing is for sure: with Iraola returning to the club where he made history, a blockbuster Premier League fixture is on the horizon.