SKIPPER Simon Francis believes Cherries could heap more misery on Liverpool – providing they can blunt the Reds’ array of attacking talent.

Francis led Cherries to a memorable 4-3 win over the Merseysiders at Vitality Stadium last season and also captained them to a 2-2 draw at Anfield.

Cherries are likely to come up against Mohamed Salah – the Premier League’s top goalscorer – when the teams renew rivalries in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Sunday (4.30pm).

The Egyptian, the newly-crowned African player of the year, has hit 13 goals in 17 games in the top flight this season and is currently one ahead of Tottenham’s Harry Kane.

Francis told the Daily Echo: “He has surprised a few people more than anything because some of his performances have been excellent.

“He is quick, direct and has an eye for goal. He is another player we will have to be on the lookout for.

"We will do our research and work on what we are going to do to try to stop him and the rest of their team.

“But we know they are vulnerable at times at the back and will hope to exploit that.

“There are so many top strikers in the Premier League and you certainly have to be on your guard the whole time.

“It is great to come up against them. Liverpool have four or five top players up front so we will have to stay switched on at the back.”

Although Cherries were undone by Romelu Lukaku’s winner for Manchester United on Wednesday, Francis said they would take great encouragement from the performance at Old Trafford.

“We did ourselves proud but it was frustrating not to come away with anything,” said the 32-year-old. “It was probably our best performance away from home.

“We caused them endless problems, especially in the first half, and were just waiting for something to go in or drop for us.

“We knew this run of fixtures was going to be tough and would like to have taken more points from the games heading into it.

“But we can take the positives into Sunday. We know it is a massive game but one we have every chance of winning if we can replicate our Manchester United display.

“Liverpool will know we had good results against them last season so it bodes well for a good game and I think it will be a tight affair. We need to make sure we cause them problems, like we did against United.”