Analysis: Watford

Javi Gracia set his Watford team up in a 4-4-2 formation, with Will Hughes, Etienne Capoue, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Roberto Pereyra across midfield and Gerard Deulofeu partnering Troy Deeney in attack. The hosts were happy to concede possession for the majority of the game, and soak up Liverpool pressure before trying to hit them on the counter-attack. They had some early chances through this strategy, but the detail of the passes was often lacking – the ball regularly fell short or was overhit.

Watford’s other method of attack was to play direct to Deeney, for him to hold the ball up and bring others into play. The powerful forward positioned himself against Dejan Lovren rather than Virgil van Dijk – and he did enjoy some success against the Croatian early on, but the Liverpool defence were able to deal with him better as the game progressed. The hosts were mostly shown wide, but they struggled to create anything of note with Liverpool cutting off inside options well – and van Dijk dealt easily with anything that came into the box in the air.

Upon regain, Watford would try to play forward early but struggled to secure good possession as a result of Liverpool’s counter-press – although there were also several occasions where Watford gave the ball away simply through lack of quality. The Hornets also had a problem when they fell into a low block and managed to clear the ball, as there was nobody positioned higher up the pitch to secure possession. With everyone involved in the defensive phase, Liverpool effectively had Watford pinned back and could attack at will.

Out of possession, Watford set up in a very organised 4-4-2 mid-low block. They looked to nullify the threat of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane by reducing the space in behind their defensive line, thus making it difficult for Liverpool to release their forwards in behind. Goalkeeper Ben Foster was proactive in coming off of his line to deal with anything that did find its way behind the defensive unit.

The hosts mainly looked to protect the central areas and leave the Liverpool full-backs free out wide. As the ball made its way to either Trent Alexander-Arnold or Andy Robertson, the wide midfielder would go out to engage, while the nearest of the two strikers would cover inside to prevent the ball being returned and then played through the space left by the wide midfielder.

When Liverpool began to move their full-backs into higher positions, the Watford full-backs would press them and leave Pereyra and Hughes to track the runs of Xherdan Shaqiri and Sadio Mane into the space vacated by the full-back. This allowed Watford to keep centre-backs Adrian Mariappa and Craig Cathcart, and the far-side full-back, in position to defend the box, with Doucoure and Capoue in front of them.

Unfotunately for Watford, it was in this area that Liverpool scored their opening goal. Femenia had moved to press Robertson and Hughes had tracked Mane, but when the ball was returned inside to Firmino, Hughes turned to look towards the ball – Firmino was able to play through the gap for the escaping Mane, who squared for Salah. This was perhaps the only time in the 90 minutes that Watford allowed Liverpool through their defensive structure, but it proved fatal – as the hosts pressed for the equaliser, the Reds were able to add two more goals through a free-kick and a late counter-attack.