Adam Bogdan says he was fouled for Watford’s opening goal

ODION Ighalo was on the mark twice as a buoyant Watford won 3-0 at home to Liverpool yesterday to consolidate seventh position in the Premier League, only one point behind the top four.

The Reds were on the back foot instantly, reserve goalkeeper Adam Bogdan dropping the ball from a corner with his first touch and allowing Chelsea loanee Nathan Ake to stab in from close range.

“Obviously he knocked it out of my hand – but we are talking about split-seconds”.

Ighalo latched onto Deeney’s 15th minute forward ball, held off Martin Skrtel and fired past Bogdan from a tight angle.

“We lost our minds after the first goal, we lost our compact formation”, Klopp said in his post-match interview, sarcastically describing the match as the most disappointing in his whole LFC career. “We tried plying in small spaces”, he added, and commented on Watford’s pressing for the second goal – something which his team pride themselves on. “Now we have to win the hard ones”. We don’t feel good today, because we came here to do something really different to what you saw. I admire them. We create a plan for these players and I trust them. That’s really good. It’s positive when I say they play easy, that’s how you have to play in this moment in the league.

We made four changes to the side that drew 2-2 with West Brom last weekend, as Mamadou Sakho returned from injury to replace Dejan Lovren, Adam Bogdan replaced Simon Mignolet who was ruled out with a hamstring injury, James Milner was replaced by Lucas, and Roberto Firmino came in for Christian Benteke.

Liverpool’s showing was a far cry from their away-day thrashings of Chelsea and Manchester City, while the Reds have accrued 12 points from nine matches with Klopp in the hotseat, the same number as Brendan Rodgers managed from eight games. “I know how strong this team can be but it is my job to help them show it much more often”.

Replays suggested he might have had two hands on the ball when Ake pounced, but nonetheless it was a poor error.

“After Southampton [6-1 win], everybody thought “wow”, and after Man City [4-1 win]”. But everyone can see that we didn’t.

Meanwhile, Watford Manager, Quique Sanchez Flores, has said he does not expect the former Nigeria Under-20 captain and strike partner Deeney to leave the club in January. This is our one advantage, because the Premier League is very tough.

Not many would have expected a promoted team to boast 17 goals between their top frontmen, but his and Ighalo’s form comes as no surprise to Deeney.

So Watford continue to confound critics who forecast a grim struggle against relegation following a return to the Premier League in May after an eight-year absence.