Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp warned his side the Premier League title is not won yet after a 44-game unbeaten run in the league came to a crashing end as Watford beat the European champion 3-0 on Saturday.
Klopp’s men still enjoy a 22-point lead at the top of the table, but their sluggish return from a two-week winter break earlier this month was finally punished.
Ismaila Sarr’s quickfire double and Troy Deeney’s strike 18 minutes from time ended Liverpool’s hopes of romping to a first league title in 30 years with an unbeaten season.
“What the boys did so far is exceptional but it is not over,” said Klopp.
“We did not expect the number of games we won. It was never easy and it will never be easy, so now let’s carry on.”
A 55-point gap separated the sides before kick-off, but the out-of-sorts visitors failed to muster even a single effort on goal in the first 45 minutes.
They were eventually stung by two quick strikes by Sarr.
Firstly, the Senegalese beat Robertson to Abdoulaye Doucoure’s low cross to stab home at the near post.
Six minutes later, Sarr had too much pace for a flat-footed Liverpool defence as he raced onto Deeney’s through ball and showed fantastic composure to lift the ball over the advancing Alisson Becker.
Sarr also had a big part to play in Watford’s third as he pounced on a short passback and had the vision to pick out Deeney, who lofted the ball nonchalantly over Alisson to make it 3-0.
“It’s such an important win for us. But it is one win,” said Watford boss Nigel Pearson.
“It’s in our own hands, and we have to deliver that performance week in, week out.”
Sarr should even have had a famous hat-trick with his final touch as he curled wide when one-on-one with Alisson.
The results:
Saturday: Premier League: Watford 3 (Sarr 54, 60, Deeney 72) bt Liverpool 0.
Serie A: Napoli 2 (Manolas 19, Di Lorenzo 82) bt Torino 1 (Edera 90+1).
Bundesliga: Cologne 3 (Bornauw 9, Cordoba 39, Nuebel-og 75) bt Schalke 0.
La Liga: Valencia 2 (Gameiro 60, Parejo 89) bt Real Betis 1 (Moron 90+3); Leganes 1 (Carrillo 59) drew with Alaves 1 (Lucas 47).
