Watford 3 Liverpool 0: Jurgen Klopp's decision to play without a striker was baffling

ANALYSIS: A look at the star player, moment of the match and the view from the bench

Jurgen Klopp watches his Liverpool side at Watford (GETTY IMAGES)

STAR PLAYER

Odion Ighalo. The in-form striker had another impressive performance, troubling the Liverpool defence from the start. He opened the scoring in the 14th minute, latching onto a good through-ball from strike-partner Troy Deeney before showing good strength to hold off Martin Skrtel and then driving his shot into the far bottom corner of the net. The 26-year-old Nigerian continued to cause problems before sealing Watford's fourth successive Premier League victory - the first time they have achieved the feat in the top flight since 1987 - with a thumping close-range header late on.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Watford came out fired up - their fans put on a pre-match display of thanks to the Pozzo family for their continued ownership of the club - but in truth they did not need to do anything to get going. Adam Bogdan dropped the first corner, Nathan Ake put it in and that was that.

Odion Ighalo (GETTY IMAGES)

VIEW FROM THE BENCH

Jurgen Klopp was forced into starting Bogdan with Mignolet injured but his decision to go without a striker was a baffling one. Only when Skrtel went off injured did he bring one on, but the damage was done by then. For Watford boss Flores, nothing is going wrong at the moment. His 4-4-2 is working a dream and he is making the most of the pace and power of his strikers.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

You could throw a blanket over the entire Liverpool team but in truth, their defensive performance was a shocker. From the moment Bogdan dropped the opening corner at Ake's feet to Ighalo's second it was a tale of woe.

WHO'S UP NEXT?

Chelsea v Watford (Premier League, Saturday, December 26)

Liverpool v Leicester (Premier League, Saturday, December 26)

PA