#3 Liverpool’s defence stands up to physical challenge
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Watford are one of the most physical teams in the Premier League and Liverpool were always going to need to stand up to that challenge across the pitch. The biggest potential flashpoint was probably the hosts’ strike partnership of the speedy M’Baye Niang and the burly Troy Deeney, but Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren at centre-back did a fine job of containing the threat.
Discussions related to defensive records tend to focus on the performances of the players stationed in the backline, but in reality, the task of trying to keep the ball out of your own net involves all 11 individuals on the pitch.
Liverpool’s customary harrying and hassling all over the field, therefore, contributed to their solidity against Watford, but it is only fair to highlight the contributions of Matip, Lovren and Simon Mignolet, who relieved pressure by claiming a number of crosses from both open play and set-piece situations, to keep their side’s ninth clean sheet of the campaign.
