Liverpool vs Watford: Preview, Team News, and Ways to Watch
Liverpool play host to Watford as they look to bounce back after last weekend’s fluke defeat to Manchester United
Liverpool vs Watford
| Saturday, March 17th |
Premier League | Anfield
17:30PM GMT/13:30 PM EST
This match will cap off a rather quiet Premier League football weekend with only four matches being played. Liverpool will be hoping to continue their unbeaten streak at home in the Premier League this season against Javi Garcia’s weakened Watford side.
Watford haven’t always had the best of luck against the Premier League’s top four sides since gaining promotion to the PL in 2015. However, matches between these two sides have not been short of goals, surprises or excitement. Liverpool memorably suffered an away 3 – 0 defeat to the Hornets in December 2015 but returned the favour the following season with a beautiful 6 – 1 win at Anfield in November 2016. Emre Can scored my Premier League goal of last season with that stunning bicycle kick which cemented Liverpool finishing in fourth place and this season kicked off with a thrilling six goal match when we were held 3 – 3 at Vicarage Road.
After last weekend’s annoying defeat at Old Trafford, the Reds find themselves in fourth place, one vital point behind Tottenham who are in third place and five points off second place, which is currently occupied by the Reds of Manchester. The Hornets are currently in tenth place and arrive at Anfield looking to redeem themselves after losing away at Arsenal this past Sunday.
Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Karius; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Can; Salah, Firmino, Mané
Aside from Ben Woodburn who is still recovering from illness, Adam Lallana’s full match fitness appears to still be up for debate and Joe Gomez could get a run out after a mild injury has had him on the side line recently.
During today’s pre-match press conference, Javi Garcia stated that no one new had been training with the team this past week and that the side’s injured players were in various stages of recovery. Watford’s centre-back, Craig Cathcart has returned from injury which will have the Hornets breathing sigh of relief as they currently have a few players out due to injuries, with Nathaniel Chalobah, Tom Cleverley, Christian Kabasele, Gerard Deulofeu, Younes Kaboul and Molla Wague all unavailable for selection. Heurelho Gomez, the Hornets’ goalkeeper is back in contention, after missing their match against Arsenal.
What the Managers Had to Say
Jurgen Klopp: We will use what happened at United [the penalties etc] as motivation. We respect the rules. But totally we can bring that into the game. We have our own targets and a home game, that should make it difficult for the opponent. We have to create a really outstanding performance and atmosphere then we aren’t together for two weeks until the Crystal Palace game… We keep the revenge feeling [after losing at United] because we have to and want to go back immediately on the winning side. I saw Arsenal vs Watford and it wasn’t a 3 – 0 [loss], Watford were really strong that day, caused a lot of problems.
Javi Garcia: I know Anfield is very difficult for us, but we are looking forward to the match. I know if you see they are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, they are top four of the Premier League and it is not easy as no-one won in Anfield [in the league] this season. If we give them the facilities we gave against Arsenal it will be impossible to get points there. I know if we play an open game against Liverpool we have a lot of chances to lose the game. We need to have a balance to be able to defend, but we need to attack as well. If you play this match only thinking about defending you are going to lose for sure.
The Officials
Referee: Anthony Taylor Assistants: Adam Nunn, Daniel Cook Fourth official: Roger East
Kickoff is set for 17:30PM GMT/13:30AM EST tomorrow, and television listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it happens.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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