The Reds extended their unbeaten start to the Premier League season to 13 games courtesy of second-half goals from Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino.
Read Klopp’s take on the result and performance at Vicarage Road in the summary of his post-match press conference below…
On the difference in the second half…
We worked hard in the first half as well. It was a difficult situation today. Maybe I should not talk about it but it’s to explain how difficult things are to prepare a game like this. I know you always expect perfection but we had exactly one session to prepare this game because they came back on Thursday – the Brazilians and Robbo, for example. One session, with the specific demands of Watford’s set-pieces; you saw what they did with routines and how they play around, where they chip the balls and where they block the guys. It’s difficult. You need to work on your own set-pieces and you need to focus on the specific quality of the opponent.
Watch: The best of the action at Watford
They defend like they defend, they are really well organised in a 4-4-2, hard-working. Their build-up is pretty direct and you cannot defend Deeney clear always because the ball is dropping down with Deulofeu, Hughes and Pereyra going behind. It’s so difficult. And then Capoue and Doucoure picking up all the balls and playing it direct again in this direction. It’s so difficult to stay calm and we stayed calm. We had two really big chances in the first half after set-pieces. We had other moments where we could have scored and Foster was there.
In half-time we had to stay stubborn, we had to do it again and again – better, of course – and with more rhythm change. That was not brilliant in the first half, we could have changed the rhythm much more often and we had to change it much more often. But it was still good. Then in the second half the first goal was brilliant, the second goal was a world-class free-kick and the third goal was one of the best counter-attacks I ever saw. So, 3-0, it couldn’t have been better.
On Jordan Henderson’s two yellow cards…
I think they were both yellow cards but things like this happen if you play in a defensive midfield situation. I don’t know how many challenges Hendo had today or situations where he had to be closing up either the player or the space. Twice he was there with a hand and made a tactical foul. The second one I didn’t like too much because we wanted to change him in that situation, Fabinho was ready and then he got it. Things like this happen, it is nothing serious and we won the game. The only not-so-nice thing is that he cannot play against Everton but that’s already accepted.
On becoming the first Liverpool side to have 33 points after 13 league games…
It’s nice. 33 points are brilliant, outstanding. The goal difference is really good, so I like all that. In this fantastic, big club with the outstanding teams of the past, that this group of players can get this record is nice. We all know the season is not finished and it doesn’t bring anything, but if somebody wants to have this record in the future they must beat this team. So, that’s good, not bad, but of course we will carry on. It’s just a nice moment. A clean sheet, after being 2-0 up you not only want to win but you want to keep a clean sheet as well. It’s not usual you have these two things in your mind, usually you only think about winning. So, all good and I really think the players deserve it. Today they did a really good job and I like this game a lot because it was so difficult.
On the manner of Liverpool’s performance…
It was a really mature performance. I am not sure if we had the ball in the past when we’ve played here, they were much more open games – especially the 3-3 we played here. We’ve never controlled games like this in the manner we do it now. I like that. I know a few people miss one or two situations which we had in the last season, especially the second part of the season. We had these games last year, we had to play against teams like this. It is not fair to compare it with other games. In the similar games last year, we were not that convincing. It was not that clear that we controlled the games, but we controlled [this game]. They had moments, they had counter-attacks, you cannot avoid that. Foster has the ball, long one, and then it’s 50-50 or 60-40 for Watford. It is difficult. Controlling it, staying in that mood, being positive in a situation, that’s new for us and I like it a lot. It was 3-0 and I don’t think any Liverpool supporter wants another result or another performance. It’s just exactly how it had be in our situation because we have to win football games week in, week out. I am really happy about the way [we did it].