It had been 422 days since last Liverpool had lost a Premier League match. The Reds were thought to be infallible. Saturday’s Liverpool-Watford match proved otherwise.
Not only did Watford defeat Liverpool, it beat the hell out of the Reds at Vicarage Road. A spectator with no prior knowledge of the teams would have thought it was Watford on an 18-game winning streak and Liverpool winless in its last five.
The Hornets opened up the flood gates in the second half on the league leaders, courtesy of abysmal Liverpool defending on a throw-in.
ISMAÏLA SARR
Watford lead over Liverpool! pic.twitter.com/xqeU4r1rtN— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 29, 2020
Ismaila Sarr wasn’t even close to being done. He dashed past a napping Virgil van Dijk six minutes later to punish Liverpool again.
TAKE A BOW ISMAÏLA SARR
WATFORD DOUBLE THEIR LEAD pic.twitter.com/1a1M0FD67B— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 29, 2020
You would have to go back to March 2018 the last time Liverpool trailed by two goals, when Manchester United won 2-1.
Sarr would then assist Troy Deeney for Watford’s third goal and start the waterfall of Liverpool tears.
WATFORD SUPPORTERS TODAY IS YOUR DAY pic.twitter.com/dweDd7LCQu
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 29, 2020
After Saturday’s match Liverpool has conceded 20 goals in the league. Watford’s three account for almost a fifth of them.
The Watford supporters really rubbed salt in the wound as they chanted:
"Can we play you every week?"
Now Liverpool only leads the league by 22 points, boo-hoo. A landslide league victory to end the Premier League title drought still awaits the Reds. But what a way to end the winning streak, getting a clobbering from the 19th-placed Watford.
A look back at the 44 game Liverpool streak shows what an absolute ridiculous run it was. Of a possible 108 points, the Reds accrued 106. It’s an historic league run that we won’t see again for some time.
Arsenal fans can at least celebrate their club being the only Invincibles as the club tweeted out its relief. It's the only thing the club can really celebrate after a nightmare week.
Phew...
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 29, 2020
As for the Liverpool faithful, don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. The run had to end eventually, and it just happened to be an absolute thrashing to Watford.
Here lies Liverpool’s unbeaten run: Jan. 3, 2019 — Feb. 29, 2020.
