Live: Watford v Liverpool | Will Salah Score?
Liverpool will make the trip to Vicarage Road when they face off against a struggling Watford.
16 October 2021 | 7:30 AM ET
Date-Time
Jonathan Moss (England)
Referee
Vicarage Road Stadium
Venue
Starting with the hosts, last seen heading into the international break with a 1-0 loss away at Leeds, Watford once again starts a new era on Saturday lunchtime.
Making the decision to bring in new boss Claudio Ranieri earlier in the month, the Hornets know that they’re in a real battle to avoid an immediate Championship return.
Looking over their shoulder and knowing that they face a stern test on home soil this weekend, the one-time Leicester hero will be desperate to try and find some kind of boost.
Crashing out of the EFL Cup thanks to a 3-1 defeat against Championship outfit Stoke last month, Watford have now won just one of their previous six matchups across all formats. With that sole victory coming against a rock-bottom Norwich, Saturday’s hosts should be bracing themselves for an overwhelming test at Vicarage Road.
As for the visitors, heading into the international break coming off the back of that stellar 2-2 draw against Manchester City at Anfield, Liverpool should still find the mood in their camp at a high.
Sat just a single point adrift of league leaders Chelsea, Jurgen Klopp’s men have continued to impress with their performances in the final third. Including a 5-1 romp against Porto on European duties last month, it is well worth keeping an eye out for attacking talisman Mohamed Salah.
Enjoying what has been a free-scoring run since opening the 2021/22 campaign, the Egyptian ace will be smelling a golden chance on Saturday lunchtime.
Bagging that stunning solo goal against the defending English champions earlier in the month, Salah has already racked up six Premier League strikes so far this season.
Jurgen Klopp has expressed his frustration at the scheduling of Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Watford just 35 hours after Brazil’s World Cup qualifier against Uruguay.
Fabinho started for the Selecao as they beat Uruguay 4-1, while goalkeeper Alisson was named on the bench, and the pair will not return to England ahead of the Reds’ next league game on Saturday.
Instead, Klopp will have to make do without them as they fly straight to Spain in the hopes of featuring in Liverpool’s Champions League encounter with Atletico Madrid on October 19.
The German tactician explained that the decision had been made to avoid forcing the pair to isolate for longer than necessary, but bemoaned the fact that Liverpool’s European opponents Atletico do not have a league game this weekend.
“Somebody decided to give Brazil the opportunity to play last night and then somebody made the decision for us to play on Saturday at 12:30,” Klopp said. “It’s not in our hands.
“Atletico [Madrid] are not playing at the weekend and they are our next opponents in the Champions League. That would not happen here. We have known it for a while so we have decided that the boys would not be here and they would go straight to Madrid.
“We had to sort quarantine issues and the decision we made is the boys will not be here, they will go directly to Madrid, wait there for us, hopefully, be able to play against Atletico, then will come back slightly later than us, so then they can come back in our normal procedure again.
“Obviously they could have flown into England but with all the quarantine stuff that would have meant they would have to isolate from their families and Ali has three kids and being away with the national teams and then 10 days in isolation with the same rubbish again. We need solutions for that and they are still not there.
“They have played in Brazil so they already had four days there not in a red-list country and that’s what counts. Then another six days not in a red-list country then they can come back and start immediately so even when they go from bubble to bubble to bubble it is still 10 days and for us that is the solution.”
Alisson has played every minute of Premier League football available for Liverpool, while Fabinho has started five of the Reds’ seven games, but Klopp will be forced to look for alternatives within his squad against the Hornets.
However, Liverpool are already light on midfield options, with Thiago Alcantara, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott all ruled out through injury.
