Liverpool haven’t experienced many bad days this season, but last Saturday was undoubtedly their worst day of the current campaign - and by some distance, too.The Reds were expected to beat 19th-placed Watford at Vicarage Road - but Nigel Pearson’s side had other ideas.Following a goalless first-half, Watford found themselves 2-0 up on the hour-mark thanks to two goals in six minutes from Ismaila Sarr.Troy Deeney then added gloss to the scoreline in the 72nd minute, wrapping up a remarkable 3-0 victory for the home side in the process.It was a result that virtually nobody saw coming. Liverpool hadn’t lost a league fixture since January 2019 - a run stretching 44 games - but Jurgen Klopp’s men weren’t at their best for once and paid the price.Deeney, who also set up one of Sarr’s goals, admitted after the match that he deliberately targeted Dejan Lovren rather than going toe-to-toe against the formidable Virgil van Dijk.“[Virgil] Van Dijk is a class act, he's top five defenders in the world and it's tough to get anything from him,” the Watford captain was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. “He's 6'6, fast, strong and you try and pick on the weaker of the two – no disrespect to Lovren.“He tried to fight me from the throw-in and I rolled him. He tried to fight me and wasn't even watching the ball and it worked out perfectly because we scored from it.”
Deeney has been hugely complimentary about Van Dijk in the past.In 2018, he famously said: “I hate going up against him. He's too big, too strong, too quick, too good on the ball, loves fighting, a good head of hair.“One of those guys that sprays on his top as well, so it smells lovely! When he runs past you, it's like 'I can't catch you, but...'.”And before Saturday’s clash at Vicarage Road, Deeney cracked a joke involving the Liverpool centre-back to his mascot while stood in the tunnel.In the clip down on Match of the Day 2, Deeney points to Van Dijk and says to his mascot: “If you’d paid a bit more money, you could have stood there, next to him!”Watch the video here...
Brilliant.
Van Dijk had his game face on but Deeney’s comment left him trying his hardest not to burst out laughing.
He looked away, but Deeney had got him once again.
Perhaps this was Deeney’s plan all along: kill Van Dijk with kindness. Big him up so much that he ends up playing badly.