Liverpool's unbeaten run went up in smoke as Amine Adli scored a stoppage-time winner for Bournemouth in a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Arne Slot's team were unbeaten across 13 games in all competitions - a run slightly skewed by four straight draws in the Premier League - but fell to a last-gasp Adli strike having staged a fightback from 2-0 down.
Some haphazard defending from Virgil van Dijk gifted Evanilson the opener before Alex Jimenez doubled the lead with Liverpool dallying about replacing the injured Joe Gomez leaving them with just 10 men on the pitch when the goal went in.
Van Dijk headed Slot's team to within one goal, partially atoning for his earlier errors by turning home a Dominik Szoboszlai corner with the top of his back.
Andy Robertson, who has been linked with a move away from Anfield this month, replaced Milos Kerkez for a second half which mostly took place in Bournemouth territory.
Yet the reigning champions remained largely toothless in attack until Szoboszlai hammered home a free-kick with 10 minutes remaining as Liverpool's unbeaten run looked set to continue.
However, Andoni Iraola's side, who had won just once in their last 13 matches, were brave and bold in the closing stages and their gamble to throw men forward paid off when Adli netted a scrappy winner in the 95th minute.
Liverpool remain fourth after the defeat - 14 points adrift of leaders Arsenal - and could slip out of the Champions League places when Manchester United and Chelsea play on Sunday, while Bournemouth climb to 13th, 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
The Reds have now lost seven Premier League games this season and the future of boss Slot will be in the spotlight once again.
Your Site' Lewis Jones:
Liverpool had the ball, the territory, the familiar patterns but absolutely no menace or conviction. This defeat to Bournemouth will sting on the scoreline, but the performance cut deeper. This was a night that laid bare a growing problem under Slot: sterile control mistaken for authority.
Slot has spent much of 2026 pointing towards low blocks as the great inhibitor of Liverpool's attacking rhythm. Teams sit deep, he says. Space is denied. His players are not built for that kind of puzzle.
Except Bournemouth did not play that game. They stepped out. They pressed. They left space in behind.
And Liverpool still looked short of ideas and, most damningly, short of belief that their football could hurt anyone.
Liverpool registered 14 shots. Those efforts amounted to just 0.83 expected goals, a figure that tells the story of their struggles. This was a team settling for the comfortable option. Shots from distance. Crosses without conviction. Attacks that slowed just as they needed acceleration.
For all the ball Liverpool had, Bournemouth always looked the more likely to land the punch that mattered. And punch they did. Bournemouth were everything Liverpool were not. Direct, decisive and daring.
This was a bad one for Slot.
Slot said his players "ran out of energy" during the 3-2 loss.
Speaking after the game, Slot cited the two-day gap and short turnaround between Wednesday's away trip to Marseille in the Champions League and Saturday's clash at the Vitality Stadium as one of the reasons his team lost.
"Frustrating, of course. Conceding a goal is always frustrating, but especially if there is no time left to come back into the game," he said in his post-match press conference.
"I think it is safe to say they could've scored the 3-2 a little bit earlier. A few players of ours ran out of energy, and I cannot criticise them for that.
"Two days ago we had to play an away game in Europe. We are the only team that played Champions League that has two days in between.
"After an away game, another away game against one of the most intense teams.
"What should not have happened is you have to win it at the end, that is more difficult.
"For the rest of the game, it was completely different. We dominated the game."
Van Dijk has taken full responsibility for the error that led to Bournemouth's opening goal in Liverpool's defeat.
"I take full responsibility even though it was a difficult ball to judge," he told Your Site.
"The second goal we could have kicked the ball out, we could have done this, could have done that, but to concede like that before half-time you put yourself in a position where you have to work harder than ever. We fought hard but didn't create big chances despite getting into promising positions."
