LIVERPOOL roared to the top of the Premier League with a 6-1 thrashing of Watford. Roberto Firmino (left) and Philippe Coutinho both scored. Liverpool are now joint-favourites with Manchester City for the title.
Mane leads the charge as rampant Liverpool put down title marker
HE DOESN’T want to talk about it. He’ll roll his eyes or puff out his cheeks or pull one of those faces to try to change the subject. His players do the same when the notion is raised with them.
Jurgen Klopp doesn’t want to discuss Liverpool’s title credentials, but he may soon find that impossible to keep up. With each passing week, and every thumping victory, this team is doing nothing to discourage chatter that they will challenge for the big prize.
Here they were presented with an opportunity to lead the pack going into the latest international break. Here their critics wondered whether this would be the weekend when they took a false step and conceded the initiative to Manchester City, Chelsea or Arsenal.
Yet here they were in all their attacking splendour, ripping Watford to shreds with a sizzling performance that yielded six goals and might have produced double figures had it not been for the woodwork and some erratic finishing.
‘Congratulations to Liverpool because I am very, very impressed,’ said Watford manager Walter Mazzarri. ‘ It is not only their psychology and their tactical play but on their running, their pressing … they are really a great team.’
nobody was in a hurry to argue. Watford arrived on Merseyside unbeaten in four matches, having not conceded a goal for 298 minutes. they had climbed to seventh with organisation and obduracy their key virtues, and were not going to come bearing gifts.
Klopp had envisaged a difficult afternoon but, instead, it turned into one of the best he has enjoyed since he was appointed 13 months ago, with Liverpool scoring six for the first time since they thrashed Aston Villa on Valentine’s day.
this was so much more impressive, though. this was a collaboration of red shirts swarming forward, spreading chaos on their way. on one side Philippe Coutinho was casting magic spells, on the other sadio Mane was a persistent, pacy threat. through the middle, Roberto Firmino spread fear.
starting with Mane’s glancing header from Coutinho’s 27thminute cross, Liverpool’s attacking trident scored four and in the process moved their combined total for the season to 16. Is there a better front three in the Premier League at present? no.
What makes them so difficult to contain is their unpredictability. none has a set position, all have licence to drift into the areas where they can cause damage. Watford’s defenders had no idea where they were going to go from one minute to the next so how could they contain them?
And to think there were some natives in the crowd who voiced their anxieties about the way Liverpool started. there were groans in the opening 20 minutes after Firmino, Lucas Leiva and Coutinho squandered acceptable chances.
But once Mane had lifted the tension, Liverpool relaxed and the lead was doubled on the half-hour when Coutinho scuttled on to a pass from Firmino and used Watford defender Younes Kaboul as a shield, firing a drive through his legs that nestled in the corner of the Anfield Road net. Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was carried off with a serious knee injury and his replacement, Costel Pantilimon, arrived just as Liverpool were building up a head of steam.
two became three on the stroke of half-time when Emre Can scored for the second game in succession, applying the emphatic finish to Adam Lallana’s inviting cross. Within 12 minutes of the restart, Liverpool’s fourth goal arrived when Firmino finished from another Lallana centre. no 5 was the most simple of the afternoon, Mane tapping in his second from a few yards after Firmino latched on to a wonderful pass from Jordan Henderson and turned Jose Holebas inside out before firing a ball to the senegal international.
If there was a criticism to be aimed at Liverpool, it was the fact they allowed Watford to score through daryl Janmaat during a sloppy 10-minute spell in which goalkeeper Loris Karius made two further good saves, the pick of which came from a bending deeney shot. one Premier League clean sheet in 11 matches is a record that must be improved.
Klopp, however, would not quibble too much and after daniel sturridge rattled the bar with two efforts, Gini Wijnaldum, another substitute, pounced in the six-yard box to become Liverpool’s 13th different goalscorer of the campaign and complete the demolition.
In his programme notes, Klopp made a point to those on the outside who have been tipping Liverpool as title candidates, saying he had ‘noticed people are singing nice songs about us at the moment’.
But he will also have noticed the song that came from the Kop in the 90th minute.
‘Liverpool! top of the league!’ they hollered repeatedly. ‘Liverpool, Liverpool! top of the league!’
How long will they stay there? Klopp might feel it is a pointless question, with so many twists and turns to come. But on this evidence, Liverpool won’t relinquish that position any time soon. their potential — and their credentials — are there for all to see.
STEVEN GERRARD’s playing career could be over after LA Galaxy lost their Us Championship play- off on penalties against Colarado Rapids. the former Liverpool star converted a spot-kick in the shoot-out but Galaxy lost 3-1 after the semi-final finished 1-1 on aggregate. Gerrard’s contract is up at the end of the season.