Liverpool this, Liverpool that… it’s been impossible to avoid talk surrounding the Merseysiders this week. Jurgen Klopp’s Reds stayed among the triumvirate of teams atop the Premier League last weekend with a win at Crystal Palace that showed both their amazing strengths and worrying weaknesses as the goals flew in at both ends in a 2-4 victory at Selhurst Park.
To be honest, the talk about Liverpool is justified. The Kop outfit have looked excellent thus far this term and with no European fixtures to contend with, they’ve been fully rested ahead of weekend fixtures, as is the case for Sunday’s hosting of Watford.
The sight of the Hornets holds painful memories for Klopp, however, with the Hertfordshire club having subjected the German to one of his bleakest moments as Liverpool boss during a 3-0 win at Vicarage Road.
We at FootballFanCast wouldn’t be shocked by another upsetting of the odds this weekend. A bold call perhaps, but hear us out first…
Watford’s away form
A quick glance at the home and away tables for the ten games of the current season shows you that Watford are anything but travel sick. The Hornets have scooped eight points from a possible 15 on the road, including a pretty impressive away victory at West Ham’s London Stadium. As well as that, Walter Mazzarri’s team have managed draws at Swansea and Southampton, while their only loss has been at Burnley’s Turf Moor – which is proving to be a banana-skin of a ground.
The Reds may be five points better off in terms of games away from home this term, but they have played once more on the road than Watford due to late summer building work at Anfield.
Goal threat
Liverpool may sit atop the scoring charts in the Premier League with 24 after ten games, but Watford’s haul of 14 is surprisingly high. Indeed, the Hertfordshire club are level with Spurs and have notched once more than Manchester United, illustrating their potency in the final third.
Interestingly, Watford play an orthodox two-man forward line, with Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo leading the attack. Liverpool’s desire to bomb forward often leaves Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren exposed, so the Anglo-Nigerian double act may well get chances, with their mix of physicality and pace likely to test the Croatian and the Cameroonian.
It’s been a month since Watford conceded a goal
Granted, Watford haven’t had the trickiest of runs of late, but two 1-0 wins against Middlesbrough and Hull either side of a 0-0 draw at Swansea means that it’s been just over a month since Heurelho Gomes has picked the ball out his net – the last time being October 1st against Bournemouth in a 2-2 draw.
To put that into perspective, Liverpool have registered just one shutout in ten league matches this term. It’s unlikely that the Merseysiders’ fluid attack will be too fussed about this statistic, but Watford are a tight defensive unit right now.