How Watford produced shock of the season
The end of Liverpool’s unbeaten run was not just due to the leaders’ off-day, writes Jim White
Weak link Lovren brutally exposed
So the invincibles are vincible after all. Liverpool’s 44-game unbeaten Premier League run came to an unexpected halt in Hertfordshire. Though what was even more surprising than the 3-0 result was the manner of Liverpool’s loss.
“Let’s not act like they were at their best,” Troy Deeney, the Watford captain, said. That was something of an understatement. In mediocre form since the winter break, this was not the result of one or two individuals underperforming: every component of Jurgen Klopp’s magnificent side hit the buffers.
None more so than Dejan Lovren, the centre-half recalled in place of Joe Gomez, and successfully targeted by Deeney.
The tactic led to the first goal. “[Virgil] Van Dijk is a class act, and it’s tough to get anything from him,” Deeney said. “You try and pick on the weaker of the two – no disrespect to Lovren. He tried to fight me from the throw-in and I rolled him. He wasn’t even watching the ball and it worked out perfectly because we scored from it.”
For his part, the chastened Lovren admitted: “We deserved to lose. Maybe it is a wake-up call for us.”
Watford follow Fury and attack right from the start
“We took heed from Tyson Fury,” Deeney suggested. And he had a point. After being brushed aside by Manchester United the previous week, Watford returned to the basics of aiming to win every individual duel.
Led by their captain, everywhere the home side came out on top. Importantly, after starting liking Fury, Watford never relented. “We scored our first and said we need a second,” Deeney said. “Then we scored our second and said we need a third. And we scored our third and said we might need a fourth. Because they just keep coming.”
With Watford still under the threat of relegation, Deeney pointed out that they could not view this victory in isolation. Unlike Fury, they had settled nothing. “I won’t look at this game in two months’ time if we’re relegated and go, ‘Oh, remember that game against Liverpool’. I’ll be p----d off.”
Pearson corrals Klopp’s attacking full-backs
The home manager, Nigel Pearson, had learnt from Watford’s spirited showing at Anfield earlier in the season that the best way to stem Liverpool attacks is to corral their full-backs. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-arnold can rarely have had a less productive afternoon.