Watford 3-0 Liverpool: Liverpool 'unburdened' as unbeaten run comes to end
Last updated on .From the section Premier League

As Jurgen Klopp tried to deliver his assessment of Liverpool's shock Premier League defeat at Watford, he found himself having to speak louder than he probably would have liked.
Despite the microphones and speakers set up in the press conference room within the bowels of Vicarage Road, the noise of celebrating Watford fans just outside was virtually drowning him out.
This was supposed to be Liverpool's day. It ended up being Watford's.
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The narrative that preceded Saturday's 3-0 win for the Hornets was all about Liverpool. A hundred or so members of the press had packed into the old stadium with just one angle on their mind - Liverpool were on the verge of making English top-flight history, with another win on their relentless march towards the Premier League title meaning a record-breaking 19th in a row.
Pre-match talk was not only about Liverpool setting such a record but also whether they could match the Arsenal "Invicibles" achievement of going an entire season unbeaten.
Few would have expected both of those records to be torn apart by a Watford side that started the day in the relegation zone and had not won in their five previous outings.

But that is exactly what happened.
How? Put simply, Watford were the better side from start to finish. They pressed Liverpool high up the pitch and were quick to close down the Reds whenever they ventured towards the Hornets box.
Klopp himself - well aware that the headlines would be about Liverpool's defeat - was keen to direct praise towards Watford.
"3-0 is a bit harsh but we had a big hand in that," he said.
"The most important thing is congratulations Watford - well deserved. That should be the headline. We didn't perform like we should have and Watford performed exactly how they want."
There were, of course, negatives within Liverpool's performance that contributed to the defeat.
Dejan Lovren made his first Premier League start since 7 December as Joe Gomez missed out because of a minor fitness concern and the Croatia international looked rusty as he struggled to deal with the pace and trickery of Ismaila Sarr, who twice got the better of the Reds to score.
Lovren started the last time Liverpool lost by three goals - the 2017 4-1 defeat by Tottenham - but he was not alone in having an off day. His defensive partner Virgil van Dijk made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes, while Fabinho was also considerably off the boil in midfield.
"In the first half there were little football things that didn't work out for us," added Klopp.
"Things we usually do naturally right we didn't do right. That already made the game pretty tense. We spoke about football things at half time and I really liked the start of the second half. The reaction was good but then we conceded the first goal and not long after that we conceded the second.
"But it has nothing to do with the games we won before and the games we will win - it was just this one football game and we have to admit we lost to the better team."
The home crowd, too, played a part.
Before kick-off the atmosphere around the ground was not one of despondency but one of belief that Watford were doing the right things, despite recent results saying otherwise.
They encouraged their team from the outset, rather than groaning at anything that did not come off, and when Sarr broke the lines with one of many promising runs on the flank early in the first half, they roared with an encouragement that clearly rubbed off on the players.
But much like Klopp, Watford boss Nigel Pearson did not want to overplay the significance of the result in their battle for Premier League survival.
"It is just one game," he said of the win that moved his side out of the bottom three on goal difference.
"We have 10 left and we have to try and emulate today in terms of performance.
"The results have not been what we wanted. We found it difficult to find ways of winning games. We coped exceptionally well today and that is the most important for me."

So what does this mean for Liverpool?
They are 22 points clear at the top of the table so, ultimately, it is the slightest of bumps in the road as they close in on a first league title in 30 years.
Instead the Reds will, as the phrase so attached to them goes, simply "go again" but now unburdened by the pressure of chasing records.
"I see it [the defeat] as rather positive," Klopp said. "From now on we can play free football again, we don't have to defend to try to get records.
"We can just try to win football games again."
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Just imagine if the wheels did come off (like big time), and if United somehow won every remaining game and finished ahead of Liverpool! Imagine how insane that would be! How devastating that would be for Liverpool
Oh wait no it's ALREADY mathematically impossible for United to finish ahead of Liverpool, nevermind........
Can't complain really, 106 points from 108 before today. Joint record win streak, most ever points over a 38 game period, 2nd longest undefeated streak in top flight history and a league title to come!
We've been treated well this season.
The Man United fans on all the Liverpool HYS boards will have to wait 4 years to celebrate the anniversary of their great day.
😭😭😭
However why is it every time Liverpool go on a break, they come back and lose their momentum? The break they get does completely the opposite for them
Shows you how desperate the haters are for any kind of negativity regarding Liverpool FC. Which in turn, shows you how jealous they are! Love it
22 points ahead of City
29 points ahead of Leicester
34 points ahead of Chelsea
38 points ahead of United
39 points ahead of Spurs
42 points ahead of Arsenal
43 points ahead of Everton
That will never be matched! We will be able to look back on it in years to come with pride and say we set a standard that has never been seen before and will never be seen again!
Oh, and we'll have the premier league title to go with it! YNWA
Watford fans, simply put, you were superb yesterday, you outplayed us, my cap is doffed and I really would like to see you kick on and stay up
to the rest of you 'experts'
rent free
Remember when we drew with Everton last year? Followed it up with 17 wins!
Remember when we drew with United back in October? Followed it up with 18 wins!
We had a blip but we will bounce back, taking that title as we do!
The man is class in victory and defeat
It’s a chance to refocus and hopefully quickly learn from our mistakes. They’re not taking anything for granted.
And very well played Watford, it should be more about how excellent you were than an off day for us.
Watford were superb, so much passion and desire and outplayed us in every department, they were brilliant.
Huge congratulations to the whole club.
Watford fan here. It's the arrogance of some of the supporters of bigger teams that we dislike. To be fair, I want Liverpool to win the league; I even wanted them to remain unbeaten all season, but this was a much more important game for Watford. Jurgen Klopp was gracious in defeat which was how it should be. It's a pity that supporters can't be, too.