Liverpool 5-0 Watford
Well, if anyone was wondering whether Liverpool have recovered from their little wobble, the Reds proved it emphatically with a five-star show against Watford.
Knowing they needed to match Manchester City’s result against West Ham to stay at the top of the Premier League, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds were excellent from start to finish. The second half of this season is proving to be more of a challenge than the first to Liverpool. The leaders have struggled to turn draws into wins, but not tonight as Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk scored a brace each.
It was a big night in the top flight, and when the Premier League 2019 results came through, the news that Manchester City had beaten West Ham made this result all the more important.
Highlights of the game
Roberto Firmino picked up an injury in the draw with Manchester United at the weekend, and that meant a place for Divock Origi. But it was Sadio Mane, starting in a centre forward position, who put the Reds ahead on just nine minutes. Trent Alexander-Arnold swung in a beautiful cross from the right, and Mane rose to plant his header past Ben Foster and into the net.
If that was a well-worked goal, the second was a touch of genius with the same two players involved again. Alexander-Arnold found Mane on the penalty spot and it looked like his first touch had let him down, but he sent an outrageous backheel beyond Foster and in for his second.
Watford came into this game fresh from hammering Cardiff City 1-5 last Friday when Gerard Deulofeu helped himself to a hat-trick, but they looked shell-shocked and must have feared a thrashing of their own (quite rightly). Alexander-Arnold is in superb form and he lifted a ball over for Mo Salah. The Egyptian was inches away as his shot hit the post.
The Hornets almost halved the deficit just before the break when Deulofeu passed to Troy Deeney but he fired wide from ten yards.
Liverpool seemed to be coasting in the early stages of the second half but they stepped up the pace and were three up with a quarter of the game remaining as the Hornets’ defence opened up for Divock Origi to cut inside and fire a low shot beyond Foster.
Three became four on 80 minutes and it was man-of-the-match Alexander-Arnold the provider again, this time bending in a superb dead-ball kick for Virgil van Dijk to nod home. And the big centre-back scored his second in two minutes heading past Foster again from an Andy Robertson cross. Van Dijk fancied a hat-trick but time ran out on the big defender!
This was an outstanding performance from a team which believes it can win a first Premier League title, and that would be so sweet for the passionate Liverpool fans.
Key statistics
The Premier League 2019 betting markets still favour the title returning to the Etihad, but Liverpool are putting up one heck of a fight, still with just one defeat all season. And Anfield has become a fortress where the Reds are unbeaten in 35.
And Jurgen Klopp’s side has narrowed the deficit in goal difference, now just six adrift of Manchester City as the Sky Blues beat West Ham by a single goal.
Watford have suffered real pain in Liverpool, this 5-0 drubbing following 6-1 and 5-1 losses in the last two seasons.
And Liverpool are now unbeaten in seven league games against Watford, scoring 25 goals and keeping five clean sheets. Meanwhile, Sadio Mane loves swatting the Hornets with five goals and three assists in five games.
What’s next?
There’s a real treat for SBOBET Football fans next weekend when Klopp takes his team across Stanley Park to Everton for the Mersey Derby on Sunday afternoon. That will be one heck of a game and a big test for Klopp’s men, who only managed to beat the Toffees at Anfield in December, thanks to a last-minute clanger dropped by Everton keeper Jordan Pickford.
But they’ll go there in good spirits to face a side out of form, until beating Cardiff 0-3 on Tuesday.
Watford are at home to Leicester City and that will be a fascinating clash. Both teams are chasing Europa League qualification, and the Leicester players have a new head coach to impress in Brendan Rodgers after recently seen off another manager, this time Claude Puel. He watched his new side beat Brighton last night.
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