It was an interesting week in the Premier League as two fixtures were postponed due to the League Cup final. Manchester City went on to lift the trophy at Wembley against Aston Villa and their absence from the Premier League fixtures meant Liverpool had the opportunity to extend the gap at the top of the table.
Leicester City suffered a 1-0 defeat at Norwich City on Friday night and that result went in the favour of Liverpool as they travelled to Vicarage road to play Watford. This was a Watford team which lost 3-0 at Manchester United in their previous Premier League game Liverpool entered the match as huge favourites to take maximum points.
However, with the score 0-0 at half time, it was the hosts who came out in the second half determined to win the game. Liverpool were due to make history by winning in the league for the 19th game in a row but it was not to be as two goals from Ismaila Sarr and one from Troy Deeney took Watford to a 3-0 victory.
Watford delivered a tremendous performance and fully deserved their victory as they aim to avoid relegation this season. The question is, what will this defeat do for the remainder of Liverpool’s season?
Yes, they are highly likely to win the Premier League but there were some alarming performances in the defeat at Watford. Alisson was guilty of a couple of wayward clearances early in the game and this set the tone for Liverpool for the rest of the match. Many Liverpool fans seemed to put the blame for the defeat on central defender Dejan Lovren, who came into the team in place of Joe Gomez who had a fitness issue.
However, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold also endured a disappointing night. A shocking back pass by Alexander-Arnold allowed Sarr to play in Troy Deeney for the third goal. Van Dijk was among those to blame for the opening goal, allowing the ball to be played into the 6 yard box too easily. There also appeared moments in the game when the Dutch defender was too relaxed when the opposite approach was required given the situation.
The attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were also poor and failed to create any good goal scoring opportunities.
Given the performances against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and the recent home win over West Ham United in the Premier League, could Liverpool be on a downward spiral? If one or two players happen to have an off night, it is generally nothing to be concerned about but when every player has a bad game, is it a sign of something more serious?
It was a lethargic display by Liverpool and there will be concerns ahead of the Champions League second leg against Atletico Madrid.