CHERRIES defender Max Aarons stated that his side must be at their “absolute best” to defeat upcoming opponents Liverpool this weekend.

After time off for the winter break, Cherries play their first Premier League game of 2024 this Sunday (4:30pm) when they welcome Liverpool to Vitality Stadium.

It will be the third time the two sides have crossed paths this season, with Liverpool 3-1 victors in the return fixture, whilst also knocking Cherries out of the EFL Cup in November with a 2-1 win at Dean Court.

Although Cherries lost their most recent top-flight fixture, a pulsating game away at Tottenham Hotspur ending in a 3-1 win for the hosts, they enjoyed a fine run of form to end 2023 by taking 19 points from their last eight fixtures.

And Aarons feels that Cherries are keen to show the league leaders that they are in good form.

Discussing Liverpool, the former Norwich City man told the Daily Echo: “A team that is right up there at the top of the league.

“We’ve got to be at our absolute best and perform, give one of our best performances of the season to be able to beat them.

“The intensity they play at and the chances that they create, it’s a real tough opposition to play against.

“Having played against them many times now, it’s always a difficult game, home or away, against Liverpool.

“We’ve got to be at our best, but I also believe we’ve got some real good threats and how we’re all feeling as a group, we can definitely cause them some problems as well.”

Whilst Cherries’ two previous encounters with Liverpool have ended in defeat, Andoni Iraola’s men pushed Jurgen Klopp’s Reds on both occasions.

Antoine Semenyo scored early on at Anfield, whilst only a wonderstrike from Darwin Nunez could secure Liverpool’s passage in the EFL Cup.

“You can look at the game we played at Anfield,” continued Aarons.

“We started the game really, really well, went 1-0 up and you end up losing the game 3-1.

“You give them a chance and nine times out of 10, they’re going to take it.

“It’s about playing the game for the full 90 minutes and being completely switched on for every single moment to be able to take anything from this game.

“But I believe we’ve got good threats that can really hurt them as well and they’ll know that we’re in some good form as well.”