YES SARR , HE CAN BOGEY YOUR TEAM!
Ismaila ended Reds’ unbeaten run 18 months ago and Ranieri is ready to unleash him once more as Liverpool confront their jinx side
CLAUDIO RANIERI will unleash flying winger Ismaila Sarr today and hope Liverpool are spooked by the memory of him destroying them 595 days ago.
Sarr scored twice when Watford’s 3-0 win against the champions-elect at Vicarage Road in February 2020 torpedoed their 44-match unbeaten run in the Premier League and ended their bid to emulate Arsenal’s Invincibles of 2004.
As Ranieri takes charge of the Hornets for the first time, he hopes Sarr’s blistering pace will haunt Liverpool like a ghost train at the fairground again.
Asked if he can use the shock result of the 2019-20 season to motivate his players, the Tinkerman replied: “Now that you have told me about this, sure. Thank you for the information.
“Sarr is very fast. And I want to speak with him, I want to understand which is the best position for him, and maybe for the team.
“But already I saw there are some more fast players in Watford. We will be facing one of the best teams in the world, but it’s OK. It will be a big battle.”
As well as seeing his side’s 18match winning streak hit the buffers at Watford 20 months ago, Anfield messiah Jurgen Klopp suffered another 3-0 defeat at Vicarage Road in December 2015, just two months into his reign. Liverpool finished a lowly eighth that season while Ranieri was leading Leicester to their 5,000-1 title miracle – but English football’s landscape has shifted markedly since then.
“Klopp continued to work hard,” said Ranieri. “He put his idea out there at the beginning. I remember he changed the training sessions, and for the first two, three months there were so many injured players.
“Now everyone understands the time, the strength, the idea of Klopp. I try to do the same, slowly I have to bring my team to a very high level.
“Maybe not so high as Klopp - it’s a good achievement, but I also want to do this.”
The Italian will be short of defensive cover when he begins his fourth managerial assignment in English football.
Centre-backs Francisco Sierralta and Christian Kabasele are out with hamstring injuries, while striker Josh King – yet to open his account for the Hornets – is doubtful with a knee ligament problem picked up at Leeds a fortnight ago.
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