To revive an old and unfulfilled prophecy of Gérard Houllier’s, Liverpool truly are 10 games from greatness. They have faltered recently and lost their attacking verve along the route but, far from feeling the pressure of the title race, they revelled in it against Watford on Wednesday night. The Premier League leaders were insatiable, unstoppable and clinical as they recorded the biggest victory of what Jürgen Klopp hopes will be the breakthrough season for his club. The Liverpool manager gave an Oscar-winner’s speech, eulogising all those who had made the victory possible and acknowledging he may have forgotten somebody. It was a lengthy list. Mohamed Salah was “unplayable” according to Klopp. Trent Alexander‑Arnold “brilliant” as he returned to the side with vengeance plus a hat-trick of inch-perfect assists. Fabinho appeared to run central midfield single-handedly, although that does a disservice to those around him. Sadio Mané scored twice, the second an audacious and glorious finish, as did Virgil van Dijk with two towering late headers. Divock Origi chipped in with a fine goal as he replaced Roberto Firmino. Strength in depth, a clean sheet and a rampant team brushing aside a side in “best of the rest” territory before kick-off. It was a result and performance that blew away creeping suspicions about Liverpool losing their edge and composure just as the season enters its critical phase. It was a result and performance that told Manchester City they will be difficult to dislodge. And it was needed. Three draws in the previous four league games demanded a reaction, despite Klopp’s claim it is growing expectation that afflicts Liverpool, and another heavy defeat of Watford – who have lost here 5-0, 5-0 and 6-1 on their past three visits – was timed as perfectly as it was executed. Klopp sowed doubt in Watford from the start by stationing Origi on the left and handing Mané opportunity to wreak havoc through the centre. It was an invitation he devoured. Other changes from Manchester United on Sunday, James Milner returning to midfield and Alexander-Arnold recalled at right-back, were also key in extending Liverpool’s unbeaten league run here to a commanding 35 games. Quick Guide Premier League title race: the remaining fixtures Show Manchester City (86 points) 24 Apr Man Utd (a) 28 Apr Burnley (a) 4 May Leicester (h) 12 May Brighton (a) Liverpool (85 points) 21 Apr Cardiff (a) 26 Apr Huddersfield (h) 5 May Newcastle (a) 12 May Wolves (h) Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. Milner signalled the kind of night that lay in store for the visitors when he charged down an early clearance from Ben Foster. The Watford goalkeeper escaped on that occasion, the ball looping into the air and his embrace, but was convincingly beaten when a carefully constructed attack released Mané for the first time. Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool celebrates scoring his second of the night. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images He was involved at the start of the move with a lay-off to Milner on the edge of the area. By the time the ball arrived in the box via an immaculate first time cross from Alexander-Arnold, the Senegal international had peeled into space between Watford’s central defenders. Foster was left waving at thin air as Mané’s powerful header flew into the top corner. Quality deliveries from Alexander-Arnold were a feature of Liverpool’s first-half dominance as the defender showed his manager what was lacking at Old Trafford. Salah’s tormenting of Adam Masina and Craig Cathcart was another. Both played their part in a second goal of impudent class from Mané. The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email. A strong run from Salah was halted inside the area but Liverpool remained in possession through Georginio Wijnaldum. He teed up Alexander-Arnold for another precision cross into Mané whose first touch shifted the ball away from goal. No bother. He simply back-heeled his second touch up and over the advancing Foster and into an empty net. The gasp that preceded the roar around the ground said everything about the finish. Fear stalked the Watford defence each time Salah received the ball in space, a lesson they failed to heed from United’s approach at Old Trafford. The paucity of the visitors’ attacking display was summed up by Javi Gracia withdrawing both of his forwards, Troy Deeney and the erratic Gerard Deulofeu, in a double substitution. Inevitably, it was Liverpool who struck again when Origi capped a promising return to the starting line-up with a fine finish. Andy Robertson found the striker lurking unmarked on the left wing with Watford defending deep and in numbers. Undeterred, the Belgium international darted into the area and away from two defenders before cutting a low and emphatic shot back inside Foster’s near post. Van Dijk made it four when he powered home a close range header from Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick. He celebrated his second goal at Anfield with a fist-pumping celebration in front of the Kop and followed that up with a glancing header past Foster from Robertson’s cross three minutes later.<doc-sep>It will be no consolation for them if this turns out to be the 29th consecutive season that Liverpool do not finish May as the new champions of England, but this was a night when they took a step back from the pressure of the title race to play with an intensity that was mesmerising. As Jurgen Klopp would later say, this was “how football should look” and even he admitted that from his angle on the touchline he could not see Sadio Mane’s second goal, an improvised back-heel chip that belonged in a category all of its own. It was not the sort of goal that you can plan, but then it felt like the sort of night when things like that might happen, with a Liverpool team cutting loose and a normally competent opponent reduced to keeping the scoreline sensible. In those final stages, it seemed like Klopp’s team were already throwing shadow punches and flexing muscles in readiness for Sunday’s derby at Goodison, the tenth game from the end of this momentous season that finds them still leading the pack by one point. “Unplayable” was how the German described the performance of Mohamed Salah, lost in a quest for a goal of his own and twisting the blood of the full-back Adam Masina along the way. In many respects, Watford did well to keep it to three before the last ten minutes when the situation finally became critical, two crosses delivered into the box – one each from the two full-backs – and both headed past Ben Foster by Virgil Van Dijk. You got the impression that a further ten minutes beyond the regulation 90 would have brought Liverpool three more and so on, and when finally the referee Graham Scott blew for time, the home side were still attacking. It was a risky and ambitious approach that broke Watford and those two goals for Van Dijk felt like the yield for an evening spent committed to attack. Van Dijk was peerless in defence, but it is the danger he poses from set-pieces that is equally daunting, especially against a team like Watford who were by that stage starting to lose what little grip they had.<doc-sep>A ruthless performance saw Liverpool get back to winning ways emphatically against Watford. Consecutive goalless stalemates with Bayern Munich and Manchester United were followed up by Wednesday’s comprehensive 5-0 victory at Anfield. Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk each netted braces, with Divock Origi also getting himself on the scoresheet. And here, with the help of Opta, we’ve compiled seven of the best stats to emerge from a devastating display by the Premier League leaders... Highlights: LFC 5-0 Watford The Reds now have 69 points with just 10 top-flight matches remaining this season. Each of the previous seven teams to amass such a tally after 28 games have gone on to win the title. Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 35 Premier League fixtures at Anfield (won 25, drawn 10) - the first side in the competition to reach that number of home matches without defeat since Manchester City in December 2012 (37 games). Origi has had a direct hand in 11 goals in his last 18 Premier League starts (seven goals, four assists). Trent Alexander-Arnold became just the fourth Liverpool player to register at least three assists in the same Premier League game after Stan Collymore, Vladimir Smicer and Alberto Aquilani. At 20 years and 143 days, the right-back also became the youngest ever player to set up three goals in a top-flight fixture since 1992. Mane’s goals were his 13th and 14th in the league in 2018-19 - the most he has ever scored in a single season in the division. Jürgen Klopp has overseen six Premier League victories over Watford - against no other side in the competition has he managed more.<doc-sep>Jürgen Klopp was effusive in his praise for an ‘exceptional’ Liverpool performance that resulted in a 5-0 victory over Watford at Anfield. The Reds maintained their one-point advantage at the top of the Premier League with a convincing win against Javi Gracia’s team, which was kick-started by Sadio Mane’s ninth-minute header. An impudent backheel from Mane, a centre-forward for the evening, doubled the lead soon after, and Divock Origi - who started, with Roberto Firmino ruled out due to injury - powered in a third at the Kop end with 66 minutes on the clock. A late headed brace from Virgil van Dijk then rounded off an outstanding display from Klopp’s side. Read on for a transcript of the boss’ post-match press conference… On whether he was delighted with his team’s work… Yes, I am, of course. It was exactly the game we wanted. But let’s start like this, in a game you win 5-0 and everyone has performed on a really, really high level and still you have to say both centre-halves played defensively an outstanding game and the goalkeeper had to make two outstanding saves, then you see the quality of the opponent. All the rest in the game was exceptional. The crosses were the most obvious thing because they were really brilliant, but positioning in the box and heading, all the other things, the runs, the direction, the desire, the composure… what can I say? Tomorrow is another day and we have to deal with all the things, but today, for today, it was really a fantastic football game. I am really happy for the boys because they deserve it so much. We drew against Bayern and against United and everyone talks about - I don’t know exactly what - different things, which I don’t really understand. It is always about showing reactions, but not reactions on the things being talked about. We want to play like this every day and that’s maybe sometimes possible and sometimes a bit less, but you have to be stable. The boys were always stable and tonight we were stable and really fluent offensively, so it’s good - a very good example of how football should look. So, let’s try to do it again and again. Watch: Extended highlights of the 5-0 win On what he thought of Mane’s second goal… The second one? I didn’t see it! I saw he got the cross but then a player was in my view! It was obviously the backheel; I heard about it but I didn’t see it yet, sorry! But I loved the first one as well, jumping that high. In a new position, the whole game how he played, come on, in that position it was just exceptional. It was clear he would help us in all the build-up situations because he is this kind of footballer, but we needed him in the box as well. Being there then twice in really good positions - at least twice, and for sure more often. It was a very good situation when Mo came from the right side, Foster touched it onto the post end then Sadio was really close to scoring a third one. How Mo played, come on that was unbelievable! He was pretty much unplayable tonight. In a game without scoring, I think this kind of performance is exceptional. Divock, defending for him, obviously he is not a natural on the wing, but he did it. Offensively he was constantly a threat, he was involved, he scored a fantastic goal. Both full-backs flying down the wings, all in midfield flexible, good passes, very aggressive, really involved in all the things, coming in the half-spaces. It was just an all-round top performance, so I am really happy. The boys who came on were really good and helped so much, so that’s all good and all really deserved. On Manchester City beating West Ham United and the title race… I only heard it was 1-0, that’s what I heard. I don’t think you need an answer from me, we only think about what we can do. We have to play football and win games then we will see what happens. It is not I go in the dressing room and someone tells me the [Man City] result and I have a heart attack. It is just a normal thing if you are top of the table it is pretty likely the contenders all win. That’s the only advantage you have when you fight for staying in the league because the other teams lose a bit more often than in our fight. I didn’t think about it, but it is what I expected. On Trent Alexander-Arnold’s performance, which featured three assists, after he was an unused substitute at Old Trafford… He didn’t play on Sunday [but] I don’t think about last games. A colleague of yours asked me if it is because of his performance in his last game against Manchester United [last season] and I really had to think: ‘What was that? Ah, the Rashford incident.’ Trent was injured, played a game and then it was clear we have to make a decision, can he play three games in a week? We were not sure and that’s why he didn’t play against United, that was the only reason. So now it was clear he would play today, he was rested and could start and he played an outstanding football game. And obviously he is fit, if you see how he was chasing back in all the counter-attacks of them and was involved in pretty much each offensive situation… it was a brilliant performance. The crosses - the first corner was not exactly how we wanted to have it, it was pretty flat and we wanted to have it higher, but all the rest crossing-wise was just outstanding. I don’t say it was easy to finish with these situations, but the crosses made it easier at least. On Van Dijk’s brace… It’s massive when the big boy is jumping that high and finishing off like that.<doc-sep>
3 - Trent Alexander-Arnold is the youngest ever player to assist three goals in a single Premier League game (20 years, 143 days). Prodigy. #LIVWAT pic.twitter.com/UGbY50PdRf With Wednesday's efforts, Alexander-Arnold doubled his assist tally to six for the season in 18 appearances. His first contribution came in the ninth minute as the full-back whipped in a ball from the right side that found Mane for a headed finish. The second was more to Mane's credit, as the winger bounced back from a heavy touch to fire a magnificent backheel finish past Ben Foster. With the two goals, Mane has now had a hand in eight goals in just five Premier League matches against Watford since moving to Liverpool. The goals also bring him up to 14 Premier League finishes for the season, to mark his best-ever haul in the competition. Divock Origi joined the fray with a goal of his own in the 66th minute, pushing the lead to 3-0 while all but ending Watford's hopes. Van Dijk's pair of finishes just padded the scoreline as the Netherlands international scored in the 79th and 82nd minutes to complete the lopsided scoreline. The loss also extends Watford's misfortunes against the Reds, as the club have lost 11 of their 12 top-flight away games against Liverpool. The only exception was a 1-0 victory in August 1999 in what was the club's first ever Premier League game at Anfield. Article continues below Liverpool are set to take on Everton on Sunday in the Merseyside Derby as they look to continue to set the pace in the title race against Manchester City. Watford, sitting in eighth place, will take on newly-appointed Brendan Rodgers as the former Liverpool boss takes charge of Leicester City on Sunday.