Troy Deeney Admits Watford Targeted Dejan Lovren in 3-0 Win Over Liverpool

Troy Deeney has revealed that Watford planned to exploit Dejan Lovren as Liverpool's weak link on Saturday evening, as the Hornets took all three points in a shock 3-0 win over the league leaders.


Liverpool had been hoping to secure a record 19th consecutive league win at Vicarage Road - their streak ended at 18 - while they were chasing other records like Arsenal's 49 consecutive Premier League games undefeated (that one ended at 44) as well as an invincible season.

The win gave Watford a big shot in the arm in their fight against relegation, while Liverpool tasted defeat in the league for the first time since losing 2-1 at Manchester City last term.

Watford spotted weakness, however, as Deeney told ​Sky Sports: "[Virgil] Van Dijk is a class act. For me, one of the top five defenders in the world and he is tough to get anything from. So you try and pick on weaker of the two.

"I knew he [Lovren] wanted to fight me and that’s my game. So if you want to try and fight me you’re going to be in for a tough night.

"He did that for the first goal and I rolled him and we scored."

Making his first start after returning from a muscle injury, Lovren was held by Deeney for a throw in deep in Liverpool’s half, which allowed Abdoulaye Doucouré to collect the ball and slot into Ismaïla Sarr for the opener.

FBL-ENG-PR-WATFORD-LIVERPOOL

The ​Watford skipper continued to play a pivotal role in the victory. He paved the way for a second Sarr goal with a fantastic no-look assist before executing the final blow himself, as Sarr capitalised on a mistake by ​Trent Alexander-Arnold and set Deeney up to score the third goal of the day.

Liverpool had only conceded three ​Premier League goals in 2020 until an afternoon at Vicarage Road doubled that total. 

It's not all doom and gloom, however, as the Reds only need four more wins to secure the Premier League title. They visit Stamford Bridge on Tuesday for a FA Cup tie against ​Chelsea.


Source : 90min