Liverpool moved to the top of the table for the first time
under Jurgen Klopp with a dominant win over Watford. The eventual scoreline of 6-1
did not flatter; in fact, there could easily have been more goals. Sturridge
hit the woodwork twice after coming on, Coutinho and Lucas both spurned good
opportunities and Firmino skewed a one-on-one wide with a strange outside-foot
effort. Nevertheless, the hosts will undoubtedly be thrilled with their
performance – Watford were utterly dismantled, and Klopp’s men will now go into
the international break high on confidence and deservedly top of the league.
It was immediately apparent that Liverpool were going to put
on an attacking masterclass. The movement of the forwards, always excellent,
was perhaps even more fluid than it has been all season; the Watford back line
looked helpless. Coutinho was once again instrumental, popping up in pockets of
space and threading lovely passes around. Lallana, too, was a constant thorn in
the Hornets’ side – he regularly pushed forward to turn the nominal front three
into a front four. However, it took a frustratingly long time for the
breakthrough to come. Klopp said after the game that some of the best chances
were created before Liverpool managed to take the lead; at the time, there was
a slight worry creeping in that it might be ‘one of those days’. These fears were alleviated by Sadio Mane
after 27 minutes: a nicely worked short corner allowed Coutinho space to cross,
and Mane stooped at the near post to flick the ball brilliantly beyond Gomes
and into the far corner.
From this point, Liverpool did not look back. Just three
minutes after the opener Coutinho himself got in on the act, receiving a pass
from compatriot Firmino before rifling it into the corner from outside the box.
Watford were clinging on, but with Can and Henderson beginning to push up a
little more there were simply too many players for the visitors to deal with.
It was Can who notched the third goal before half time: his run was not tracked
by Amrabat, and he was left free in the box to head home Lallana’s inch-perfect
cross. Things continued in much the same way after the break – Firmino’s performance
had warranted a goal, and he managed to get one after 57 minutes. He lurked in
the box, waiting for Lallana’s delivery, and when it came he was on hand to
steal half a yard on his man and knock it home. Firmino was involved once again
minutes later: he held up the ball brilliantly in the box, then squared it for
the rapidly arriving Mane to tap into the empty net. This made it 5-0 inside
the hour mark – Watford fans were probably just hoping that it didn’t reach
double figures!
Liverpool briefly took their foot off the gas after the
fifth, however, and Watford started to play some fairly nice football going
forward. Karius was called upon to make a couple of good saves before Janmaat
eventually beat him with a placed shot into the corner. In fairness it was
probably deserved – the Liverpool back line will nonetheless be frustrated at
yet another failure to secure a clean sheet. This frustration translated into a
renewed attacking vigour up the other end: Sturridge, who had been introduced
shortly before Watford’s goal, looked particularly dangerous. He hit the
crossbar twice, slamming the ball against it from a tight angle before hitting
it again with an outrageous curling effort from outside the box. This latter
attempt was tipped on to the bar by a fingertip save from Pantilimon, who had
come on in the first half to replace an injured Gomes. Had a goalkeeper who
wasn’t 6”8 still been on the pitch, perhaps Sturridge would have got his goal!
He did at least manage an assist late on – yet another good shot was parried by
the Romanian keeper, but Wijnaldum was on hand to slot home the rebound and add
a final flourish to an absolute rout.
It was a performance that showcased why Liverpool are now
being treated as serious title contenders. The relentless energy, fluid
movement and constant creation of chances make for an extremely potent side –
in this game, Liverpool recorded the most shots on target (17) of any team in
the Premier League since Opta records began in 2003/04. Coupled with this
ability to score plenty of goals is a defence that is an improvement on recent
years: whilst there are obviously still issues to iron out, as evidenced by the
seeming near-impossibility of keeping a clean sheet, on the whole the back line
is stronger than the one Liverpool had in 2013/14, when defensive frailty
ultimately cost them the league. This is thanks in no small part to Joel Matip,
who has brought an assurance to the defence that has been missing for some
time. A sublime attack and functioning defence sounds like a recipe for
success: Klopp doesn’t want to talk about it yet, but that won’t stop fans
thinking about the title.
-James Martin
Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013
-James Martin
Follow me on Twitter @JamesMartin013
