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Our last league fixture before the international break (we do have another game before that of course), and we should understandably be going into it in high spirits. Not only did we thrash this lot 9-0 at Anfield earlier in the season, but we are coming off the back of dishing out a once-in-a-lifetime twatting to our historically biggest rivals. Both games showcased a ruthless edge that has often been missing this season. Bournemouth sacked Wing Commander Scott ‘Scotty’ Parker after that 9-0 game (less to do with the result and more to do with his public comments about the club not investing in squad upgrades so they had no hope of remaining in the top flight. He has since headed for Flanders fields and wound up as the head coach of Club Brugge somehow (so he’s actually in charge of a Mig!) and his replacement Gary O’Neil has done reasonably OK with a squad lacking the depth of some of the other bums down there. Anyway: Mojo. Organisation. Ruthlessness. Endeavour. Pace. Luck. Effervescence. Accuracy. Skill. Energy. I don’t ask for much. We have done very well on our visits to the Vitality Stadium (the capacity there is less than that of the Kop!), with the only aberration being the 4-3 in 2016/17 when the team surrendered 2-0 and 3-1 leads with some awful decision-making in defence. In the main, we’ve come away comfortable victors against teams then led by Beheddie Howe. Case in point being 8th December 2018. This was a Liverpool team that would finish runners-up in the league despite getting an incredible 97 points, but go on to claim Number Six in Madrid against Spurs. The chilly Saturday afternoon’s goal-scoring feast got under way when some sharp interplay outside the Bournemouth box between Bobby and Mo resulted in Mo tucking away the rebound after Begovic failed to hold onto Bobby’s left-footed volley from the edge of the area. We had to wait until the second half for the floodgates to open, and it was Mo again who did the damage, racing through to fire a shot into the far corner. He’d had his Achilles raked by Bournemouth captain Steve Cook as he was running through, but kept his composure. Cook’s already bad afternoon got worse as he turned a Robbo cross past his own keeper. Cook was then fairly barged off by Mo who again raced through on goal. He rounded the keeper but his touch took him wider than he’d have liked. No matter, as he cut inside the flailing Begovic once more, steadied himself and poked the ball past Ake on the line to complete his hat-trick. We went top of the table that afternoon. Marvel Studios changed tack and moved away from the MCU timeline, bringing us the animated tale Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which was atop the box office in December 2018. It’s bright, breezy, funny and with heartfelt moments all lit up by spectacular visuals. The story would not work as well if told with the real world and CGI combo of the MCU, and I think there’s a temptation to overindulge on pop culture and ‘meta’ references when using real actors whereas with animation, the visual creativity isn’t held back by physical and budgetary constraints so the story doesn’t need to be padded out so much with the other stuff. This is my nephew’s favourite film (he went to see it on his 8th birthday) and it’s one of the best Spider-Man films overall. Our team delivered a visual feast of their own at the weekend, but that and the 9-0 are even more reason to not let standards drop, to keep concentration high and not allow any let-ups in intensity. Following up an epic result with a damp squib just undoes all the good work. This game takes place before any of the others play so a win (and hopefully another handsome one) will put us in the top 4 on goal difference for a little while at least. That is something that looked extremely unlikely a month or so ago. That would be a nice shot in the arm as we prepare to travel to Madrid and look to pull off the impossible. Get the job done here first, and then focus on trying for a miracle.