Ismaila Sarr and Watford battered sorry Liverpool 3-0 at Vicarage Road on Saturday to stop two key aims of the Reds’ historic season.
The impending Premier League champions will not go down in history as one of the England’s only unbeaten teams, and also fall short of setting a new record for consecutive league wins.
The Reds also come five matches short of Arsenal’s record for consecutive unbeaten matches in Premier League history (49).
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Man City and Liverpool will live together (forever?) with 18-consecutive league wins.
Watford needed this win badly, and Nigel Pearson‘s men pull out of the drop zone with 27 points.
Liverpool still leads the league by 22 points over Manchester City.
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Three Four things we learned
1. A beautiful run ended by a messy performance: The 2019/20 Liverpool team may go down as the best in the history of England and, perhaps, the world. Let’s get that out of the way, as well as this: You’d hate to be on the Reds’ fixture list in the coming weeks.
The Reds had the ball a lot late as Watford closed up shop, but they had little to no foothold in the game from moment No. 1. Outshot 14-7 with just one shot on target, it was the variety of errors that killed them.
Jurgen Klopp‘s men will still win the league, and the manager was classy in greeting Pearson and assistant Shakespeare with a smile and hug before the final whistle. He’s an incredible ambassador for the club, who are still are favorites to have a claim as one of the best teams of all-time. But they won’t go unbeaten. And they’ll (probably) forever share the longest domestic win streak with their era rival. Fitting, fair, but frustrating for the Reds.
2. Let down by the brightest star: In a way befitting the shock of the occasion, the biggest errors of Liverpool’s history-ruining loss came for its best player.
Both Virgil Van Dijk and Andy Robertson were out to lunch as the Reds took the lead, a seemingly harmless ball bouncing over Dejan Lovren to Abdoulaye Doucoure. The Frenchman then got a pass beyond Van Dijk with ease, and Robertson had no handle on Sarr as the winger punched a shot into the back of the goal.
It was even worse for Van Dijk on the second, as he was asleep to Sarr’s danger after a 50-50 battle on the sideline led to a loose ball.
ISMAÏLA SARR 🔥
Watford lead over Liverpool! 🐝 pic.twitter.com/xqeU4r1rtN
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 29, 2020
3. Sarr the star: Ismaila Sarr had two goals and an assist, but he could’ve scored five as the Reds were wide open and chasing the match. In 79 minutes, the danger man delivered scares across the soon-to-be champs back four. He now has five goals and four assists in his first Premier League season, but few will stand out more than the two and one on Saturday.
4. Dark cloud looms over incredible win: Watford needed this win badly, and it qualifies as a major surprise that the Hornets went on to win after a scary injury to star man Gerard Deulofeu.
The Spaniard has keyed Watford’s run from the depths of the table, and his absence will call into question the club’s hopes of staying in the top flight.
A round of applause for Gerard Deulofeu who gets carted off after suffering an unfortunate knee injury.
Wishing him all the best. pic.twitter.com/2HEbBIgzv7
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 29, 2020
Man of the Match: Sarr.
Gerard Deulofeu had the match’s first chance, dribbling around Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fabinho to fizz a shot wide of the near post.
Watford saw a shot from Deulofeu sail wide, and Fabinho broke up a Will Hughes chance in the 12th minute.
The Hornets continued to threaten against off-kilter Liverpool, with Doucoure and Deulofeu especially busy.
Watford’s heart would’ve sunk when Deulofeu’s leg appeared to lock up in a 50-50 with Virgil van Dijk. He was stretchered off the pitch.
An extraordinary sequence saw Alisson Becker bungle the ball upon Troy Deeney pressure, but Liverpool was able to thwart the chance.
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The second half again saw Watford ready to roar, Roberto Pereyra setting up Sarr for a shot that Alisson pushed over the bar.
Moments after Liverpool failed to capitalize on a mess in the Watford box, the Hornets took the lead.
Sarr darted in front of Andy Robertson after Abdoulaye Doucoure got the better of a sleepy Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk was asleep again when Deeney belted a ball off the sideline that drifted past him and onto the path of Sarr, who beat Alisson 1v1.
Then came the third, as Sarr raced past the Liverpool back line and this time cued up Deeney for a goal.