Liverpool climbed to the top of the Premier League table, courtesy of a comprehensive victory over Watford at Anfield on Sunday. It was the Reds, who began the proceedings when Sadio Mane found the back of the net from a Philippe Coutinho cross in the 27th minute. Thereafter, it was a display of some amazing attacking football from the Reds as they continued to slice open Watford and found the back of the net on 5 further occasions via Coutinho, Emre Can, Roberto Firmino, Georginio Wijnaldum and Mane.
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While Watford did pull one back through a Daryl Janmaat goal in the 75th minute, it was too little too less to impact the result of the game as the Hornets were completely outclassed by the Reds.
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In this segment, we bring to you, the 5 talking points from the game between Liverpool and Watford.
#1 There is no denying the identity of this Liverpool side
Even a brief look at their play leaves one with no doubt that this is a Jurgen Klopp side. They press together, attack together, are unselfish in their approach and can knock the stuffing out of the best of the teams with their intensity throughout the 90 minutes.
The Reds were in marauding form yet again against Watford, constantly breaking their defense when in possession and extensively pressing the opposition when they were without the ball at their feet. While scoring 6 goals is a mean feat in itself, the Jurgen Klopp side could have gotten at least a couple more goals and were only denied by Costal Pantilimon.
The German has developed a penchant for teams that believe that attack is the best form of defense and that was the case against Watford, where they continuously pushed Watford on the back foot and offered them very little time and space on the ball.
#2 Coutinho, Firmino and Mane stepping up in style for the Reds
The attacking trio of Coutinho, Firmino and Mane have been phenomenal for the Reds this season and continued with their brilliant performance against The Hornets. They have tormented defenders with their movement on and off the ball, link-up play as well prolific abilities in front of the goal. They were at it again, as each of them got on the score sheet at least once and showed why the Liverpool attack is rated highly by fans and pundits alike.
Such has been their impact that the side continues to leave out their first choice striker and one of the best in the business, Daniel Sturridge and still come out unscathed on most occasions. However, one must give credit to the Englishman, who impressed us with abilities on the evening, constantly probing the Watford defenders with the ball at his feet and could be termed unlucky as he struck the post twice.
With the attacking unit doing well, it was not strange to hear the Kop chant “If we still had Luis Suarez, he’d be on the bench.”
#3 Adam Lallana finally proving his worth in a Red Shirt
One Liverpool player who has caught our attention for positive reasons time and again this season is the former Southampton man, Adam Lallana. Subject to a high-profile move from the Saints, the player had managed to impress in bits and parts in the past but lacked consistency.
However, the appointment of Jurgen Klopp as the manager seems to have had a positive impact on the player as he has not only improved as a player, he has also been consistent at being one of the better Liverpool players this season.
Lallana might not have gotten on the scoresheet for the Reds, but he was a constant threat to the Watford defense with his mazy runs and created 4 chances during his time on the pitch, two of which resulted in goals. Perhaps, what has amazed us most is his defensive contribution to the side. He made a total of 14 recoveries against the side and was constantly haggling the opposition for time and space, in the process laying the foundation for his side’s attack to let loose.
#4 Watford need to shore up their attacking options
While they did score on the evening, Watford’s deficiencies in defense, as well as attack were on display yet again. The side lacked fluidity in movement and constantly gave away the ball to the Reds during the evening, with the Dutch Nordin Armabat being the only positive performance for the Hornets.
The side genuinely lacked a quality playmaker to complement the abilities of their striking duo of Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney and failed to threaten a Liverpool defense that has been termed susceptible over the course of the season. With no able replacements for the duo, the club has been forced to field the same attacking unit for extended periods and with both the players struggling to find the back of the net as often as they did last season, they have been rendered toothless on numerous occasions.
The apparent lack of quality in the middle of the park might come back to haunt the side as they seek to re-establish themselves as a Premier League team and their return of 4 goals in their last 5 league meetings does not make for good reading at the moment.
#5 Walter Mazzarri’s men need to pick themselves up from the brutal defeat
Regardless of the brutal defeat at the hands of the Reds, Mazzarri’s men currently sit in a respectable 8th spot in the Premier League, a point ahead of Burnley and should put the defeat behind them on improving on their league position of the last season. The side has shown an ability to eke out positive results even from dire positions in the current season and will need to get over the comprehensive battering they were at the end of on Sunday evening.
It will largely come down to the abilities of Mazzarri as a manager and the Italian will have to take the positive out of the game and build upon it and eradicate the mistakes they committed in order to retain their position in the League table.
Liverpool have been merciless thus far in the season and can leave a lasting scar on the opposition and the Hornets have a huge task ahead of them, especially psychologically in order to ensure such performances do not repeat in the future.
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