In our latest installment of Andrew Beasley's weekly column, the superb statistician looks at some of the real plus points from Liverpool's win over Watford.

Liverpool’s record-breaking start to 2018/19 continued with a 3-0 win against Watford at Vicarage Road.

The Reds were not at their free-flowing best throughout, but it was still a very creditable away performance.

Three-nil wins on the road in the league are fairly rare - this was Liverpool’s 24th in the Premier League era – and this one was most welcome at the beginning of an intense run of fixtures.

While Jurgen Klopp’s side won by a three-goal margin, they were grateful to Alisson Becker for being level at half time. His save from Roberto Pereyra wasn’t the hardest he’ll ever make, but it proved to be Watford’s only attempt on target in the match, and a clear-cut chance too.

It would have been a very different game had that gone in.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of Liverpool’s opening goal was that all of the first-choice front three were involved. Roberto Firmino found Sadio Mane in the box, and he in turn picked up his first assist of the season when Mohamed Salah converted his pass.

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After one member of the front three assisted another for a goal in each of the Reds’ first three matches this season, this was only the second time it has occurred since. Liverpool need their main men to be firing through a tricky spell of games, so this match was a definite step in the right direction.

Watch James Pearce's post-match assessment - and read his verdict HERE

James Pearce reacts to Liverpool's 3-0 win at Watford

While it’s never surprising when Salah scores, we perhaps should’ve expected him to get one on Saturday even more so. His opener at Watford was his fifth goal in Liverpool’s last five matches which have directly followed an international break.

The Reds have won all five games, so a lack of preparation time doesn’t seem to hamper them as much as it might once have.

Salah’s goal was his 39th in the league for Liverpool, which put him one ahead of Firmino’s tally. His lead only lasted for 22 minutes though, as the Brazilian finished off a fine counter attack to get the third goal. It was his fifth against the Hornets in total, making them his joint-favourite opponents alongside Arsenal and Swansea.

Firmino’s strike was also the Reds’ third league goal in 2018/19 which was classified as a ‘fast break’ by Opta - and only four teams in Europe’s big five leagues have bagged more this season. Liverpool were joint-top of this chart in 2017/18, so it’s good to see them going along nicely once again.

In between Salah and Firmino’s goals, Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the fourth of his Liverpool career, and the second from a direct free-kick. Goals from dead ball shots are relatively rare events, with around 20 being scored in the Premier League each season.

Read the latest Liverpool news and transfer gossip HERE

Coutinho bagged two in the league last season before he left the club, and three in Klopp’s first full campaign in charge, with nobody else notching. Liverpool only picked up one in each of the two seasons prior to that.

Could Trent prove just as effective from free-kicks as Coutinho was? It has to be a possibility.

You’ll no doubt have seen that Liverpool set a new defensive record in this match. The club has never previously conceded just five goals in their opening 13 league games in the top flight before.

It’s undoubtedly impressive stuff, but there’s another record they set which I’d like to highlight.

It’s an arbitrary and niche achievement, but an important one nonetheless.

Cast your mind back to the last time Liverpool left Anfield to play a league match against a side beginning with ‘W’. Despite the Reds taking a two-goal lead, West Bromwich Albion struck back to claim a point in a 2-2 draw.

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

The win at Watford was the 16th league match since that afternoon at the Hawthorns last April. Liverpool have not conceded two goals in any of those games, making this their longest run without conceding at least twice in the Premier League era.

I warned you it was niche.

But also that it was important.

When a team concedes twice, they lose around three quarters of the time, and only win once every 11 matches on average.

For a big team like Liverpool the percentages improve - but while they’ve won once every six times they’ve conceded at least two goals in the Premier League, they still average only 0.74 points per game from such matches.

Only conceding five goals in 13 matches is fantastic. But had those five come in a two and a three-goal spurt, as unlikely as that perhaps is, Liverpool would have a problem.

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The Reds’ run of defensive consistency will end eventually - it’s inevitable.

Right now, though, it’s looking like scoring two goals will secure three points every time.