Dubai: “Phew!”
That is what Arsenal’s tweet read moments after Liverpool went down 3-0 to Watford in the Premier League’s most unexpected result of the season.
While the Gunners had the weekend off, they were not celebrating a loss by their traditional heavyweight rivals Liverpool — they were just expressing their relief that someone had finally halted the Anfield Juggernaut to leave Arsenal as — still — the only team to have gone a whole Premier League season undefeated.
The Invincibles of 2003-04 can relax once again as it looked like Liverpool were marching relentlessly to equal — some would say better — their unbeaten achievement. Jurgen Klopp’s Reds had only dropped two points at campaign in a draw with Manchester United before the weekend.
Of all teams it was Watford who stopped Liverpool in their tracks. Not Manchester City, not United nor Chelsea, not high-flying Leicester nor Sheffield. It was Watford. The same Watford who — until Saturday — had only won five games all season, compared to Liverpools 26 out of 27.
Such a result is showing one form of consistency in the Premier League this season. That is, no game is taken for granted and no result can ever be guaranteed.
Ok, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are pretty good at shipping points, and you never know which Chelsea or United will turn up, given their ability to dazzle one week and embarrass the next.
But we have also seen bottom side Norwich stun City with a three-goal salvo and Sheffield, five points off the top four, have been a revelation in a season in which most tipped them to go down.
Now you can add the wonderful Watford show to that list of tales of the unexpected.
At Vicarage Road, Ismaila Sarr scored twice and skipper Troy Deeney rounded off a rampant performance against a bizarrely sluggish Liverpool who blew their big chance to make it 19 victories n the trot, which would have been the longest winning run in the Premier League.
Instead, they slumped against Watford, who were handed the added bonus of moving out of the relegation zone, too.
Anyway, I’m sure all those heart-broken Liverpool fans can take a crumb of comfort in their first league title in 30 years and the possibility of defending their Champions League title in Europe. Every cloud and all that ...
While we are on the subject of consistent inconsistencies, Manchester United’s Blunderer-in Chief David De Gea was at it again at the weekend.
It was left to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to defend his goalkeeper once again after the Belgian fluffed his lines in the 1-1 draw against Everton on Sunday.
De Gea gave Everton the lead at Goodison Park in the opening exchanges by smacking the ball off Dominic Calvert-Lewin and into his own net, adding to the list of embarrassing moments in a United shirt for the keeper (seven and counting since the beginning of last season). Solskjaer called De Gea the best keeper in the world after Bruno Fernandes had rescued a point for United against Everton. I reckon he’s not even the best keeper on United’s books, with Dean Henderson waiting in the wings after impressing while on loan at Sheffield United.
