Watford vs Liverpool: Result and reaction from Premier League fixture

All the reaction from the extraordinary game at Vicarage Road

Ismaila Sarr celebrates scoring Watford's first goal (Getty Images)

Liverpool's unbeaten run of success in this season's Premier League was ended in unfathomable fashion on Saturday as struggling Watford hammered the European champions 3-0 at their ecstatic Vicarage Road stadium.

Ismaila Sarr inspired the extraordinary upset, stunning Liverpool with two goals in six second-half minutes before he set up captain Troy Deeney with a third for the team who had started the day one from bottom, 55 points behind the runaway leaders.

Liverpool's first league defeat of the season meant the end of their hopes of going the whole league campaign as unbeaten as the new 'Invincibles' after 44 league matches without a defeat.

It also came on the evening when they were expected to surpass champions Manchester City by creating a new English top-flight record of 19 successive league victories.

The setback will doubtless not stop Juergen Klopp's men going on to lift their first English title for 30 years as they still remain 22 points ahead of their nearest pursuers, yet their season's aura of domestic invincibility has now been demolished.

Liverpool had previously dropped only two points in the league this season -- their draw at Manchester United in October -- but from the start, Watford attacked them with unexpected vigour.

Watford had looked the more likely to break the deadlock in the first half with Gerard Deulofeu proving Liverpool's main tormentor before he was taken off by stretcher with a knee injury.

Yet it was only when Sarr struck twice just before the hour mark and then turned provider for Deeney to shoot home a third that the 'mission impossible' became a reality.

How to watch

Which TV channel is it on?

The match will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, and HD channels.

Can I stream the game online?

Sky Sports subscribers can watch the game via the Sky Sports website and the Sky Go app.

Key Points

• Watford 3-0 Liverpool
• Ismaila Sarr scores two and sets up third in sensational display

[29 February 2020 19:16 · Michael Jones]

Watford 3 - 0 Liverpool

84 mins: Liverpool have had no answers to Watford today. They haven't come close to scoring and have been well below their usual levels. 

[29 February 2020 19:19 · Michael Jones]

Watford 3 - 0 Liverpool

87 mins: Liverpool loop the ball into from the right and Foster claims the ball. The clock is just ticking away now, Liverpool can no break Watford down.

[29 February 2020 19:22 · Michael Jones]

Watford 3 - 0 Liverpool

90 mins: There's going to be four minutes stoppage time. Just four minutes before Liverpool's unbeaten run comes to an end. 

[29 February 2020 19:25 · Michael Jones]

Watford 3 - 0 Liverpool

90+4 mins: So Liverpool remain four wins away from the Premier League title. They came up against a Watford team with a gameplan that they executed perfectly. The Reds' run of 18 wins in a row comes to an end at Vicarage Road.

Watford earn a wonderful three points and move above Aston Villa in the league. They move out of the relegation zone but only on goal difference.

[29 February 2020 19:31 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool were on a run of 44-games unbeaten in the league. But that's all over. As is the dream of matching Arsenal's 2003/04 Invincibles by going a full season without losing.

[29 February 2020 19:36 · Michael Jones]

Reaction from Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster: 

"Just do that every week! It's easy if you do it like that - we had a game plan and stuck to it really well. Their front three were dropping really deep to get the ball and we knew our game plan was working.

"Ismaila Sarr is a crazy good talent, he's so calm in front of goal and has electric pace. Buzzing.

"It's not hard is it, football?! We stuck to our task and took our chances when they came.

"We took a lot of belief when we played them at Anfield, I thought we were the better team then. There is a load more work to go."

[29 February 2020 19:39 · Michael Jones]

It was a poor performance from Liverpool. They're still top of the table by a long, long way. 22 points to be exact but now they've lost a couple of games in quick succession. 

First against Atletico in the Champions League and now Watford. The real test will be to see how Liverpool bounce back.

[29 February 2020 19:41 · Michael Jones]

Liverpool come five games short of Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten record. The Gunners also remain the only team to complete a Premier League season undefeated but it was a close run thing... 

[29 February 2020 19:42 · Michael Jones]

Watford 3-0 Liverpool: The Hornets turned on the style in the second half to rip through a lacklustre Liverpool and haul themselves out of the relegation zone:

[29 February 2020 19:43 · Michael Jones]

More reaction from a wide-grinning and very happy Ben Foster: 

"Liverpool are one of the best teams you're likely to see, but it's all about us for us tonight, we needed the three points.

"There's six or seven teams down where we are and if you can put a run of a few games together where you win three or four, you create a gap between you and the rest. We did it when the manager first came in, and now we need to do a similar thing.

"It's nice but there's a load more to go."