Liverpool recorded a convincing 0-5 win over Watford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. Roberto Firmino scored a hat-trick, while Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah accounted for the other goals. Claudio Ranieri, who will be celebrating his 70th birthday next week, thus had a terrible debut as Watford coach. With the win, Liverpool takes the lead from Chelsea, while Watford remains in fifteenth place.
Klopp could not rely on Alisson Becker and Fabinho due to international obligations. The Brazilian duo will fly from South America to Spain for the upcoming Champions League match against Atlético Madrid. Alisson’s absence allowed Caoimhin Kelleher to prepare for his first Premier League game of the season. Liverpool, with Virgil van Dijk in the base, handed out the first pinprick in the opening phase. Mohamed Salah hit the bar hard, but the flag went up for offside. With eight minutes on the clock, the visitors still took the lead in a beautiful way. Salah put Mane face to face with goalkeeper Ben Foster with a pass with the outside of the foot. The Senegalese kept cool by sliding the ball into the left corner: 0-1.
WOAH, that pass from Mohamed Salah!! ?? The Egyptian serves Sadio Mane in a masterly way for the 1-0 ????#ZiggoSport #PremierLeague #WATLIV pic.twitter.com/ES2q9kQ1gN
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) October 16, 2021
Liverpool were lord and master in the first act and managed to express this further in the score ten minutes before half-time. James Milner teamed up with Firmino and then found Mané. The attacker returned the ball to Milner, who served Mané with a ready cross: 0-2. Klopp’s team wanted to push on before halftime. Naby Keïta had a free shooting opportunity from about twenty meters. However, the Guinean’s shot hit the crossbar, saving Watford from further behind.
After the break, Liverpool went straight on with the gala performance. Craig Cathcart got Foster into trouble with an intervention, after which the rebound was for Firmino: 0-3. The other big man of the match was Salah. The attacker tricked three Watford defenders on the square meter, then cut out the sliding Cathcart and then shot in from the long corner: 0-4.
???????????????????????? ?? Mohamed Salah really sends the entire Watford defense into the woods and finishes off perfectly ??#ZiggoSport #PremierLeague #WATLIV pic.twitter.com/3fYX5FCEON
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) October 16, 2021
After the 0-4, Mane and Salah, among others, had great opportunities to increase Watford’s suffering, but only Firmino found the net again, with which the Brazilian completed his hat-trick and Ranieri suffered the biggest Premier League defeat ever. . Chelsea are two points less than Liverpool and play against Brentford in the evenings.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 18 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 16 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 14 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 14 |
| 5 | Everton | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 14 |
| 6 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 14 |
| 7 | Brentford | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 12 |
| 9 | West Ham United | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 11 | Arsenal | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | -5 | 10 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton W. | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -1 | 9 |
| 13 | Leicester City | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -3 | 8 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | -3 | 7 |
| 15 | Watford | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -8 | 7 |
| 16 | Leeds United | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -7 | 6 |
| 17 | Southampton | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | -5 | 4 |
| 18 | Burnley | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | -6 | 3 |
| 19 | Newcastle United | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | -8 | 3 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | -14 | 1 |