Goals in either half from Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool overcome Watford.

Salah broke the deadlock with a curled finish that reached the top right-hand corner of Ben Foster’s net following a well-worked counter attack by Sadio Mane.

The Egyptian struck again in stoppage time of the cagey encounter as he back-heeled past Foster at the far post after Divock Origi’s scuffed effort broke for him.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Sloppy Reds keep eyes on the prize

 

With five trophies still to aim for this season and a comfortable lead in the Premier League title race, Liverpool could be forgiven for resting on their laurels.

But Jurgen Klopp’s programme notes for Watford’s visit aptly underlined the challenge ahead of the champions-elect over the coming hours, let alone weeks.

On an afternoon when biting winds and chilly temperatures, the German’s prophecy that it would not be ‘nine months of sunlight and warmth’ rang true.

Despite the challenge posed by Nigel Pearson’s side, the Reds their eyes on the prize with a hard-fought win that was not mirrored by their fellow title rivals.

Later in the day, Leicester City were held to a draw by Norwich while Chelsea again fell behind and now trail the leaders by an audacious 20 points.

Even if Manchester City maintain their 14-point gulf with a win over Arsenal on Sunday, Liverpool are still sitting pretty at the summit on a double figures lead.

There was never any danger of that they would be caught slipping now.

Gomez steps out of Van Dijk’s shadow

 

Life as Virgil van Dijk’s defensive partner is arguably the easiest job in football.

The Holland captain often makes his fellow centre-back appear more solid and assured than they previously did in the European champions’ back line.

Some things never change, however Joe Gomez accomplished exactly that without the aid of Van Dijk in a performance that put his teammate in the shade.

Not only did he handle Troy Deeney’s continual targeting but also was influential in snuffing out a number of the Hornets’ counter-attacks across both halves.

His marshalling Ismaila Sarr particularly was impressive with a well-timed interception after the Senegal international had roamed through Liverpool’s half.

Gomez appeared the less-fancied option within Klopp’s defensive ranks when stacked against collective experienced offered by Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren.

In the pair’s absences through injury, though, the 22-year-old has already shown that his starting place is on merit rather than mere default.

VAR continues to confuse and incense

 

It feels like barely a game goes by where VAR isn’t a talking point – and once again, Anfield found itself at the heart of yet another of its controversies.

Sadio Mane’s early second-half goal appeared to have given Liverpool a comfortable two-goal cushion after evading Etienne Capoue’s watch.

Technology clearly had other ideas as the forward’s positioning when he met a Xherdan Shaqiri cross was adjudged to have strayed into offside territory.

The infamous ‘armpit’ ruling which has often defined fractional calls again came into play and drew understandable frustrations from a restless home crowd.

And who could blame them?

VAR was supposed to improve decision-making around dubious decisions but continues to trivialise this season’s Premier League games.

A common refrain during Luis Suarez’s time at Anfield was about how his teeth were perennially offside whenever the controversial Uruguayan found the target.

In the Bizarro World of VAR, those claims might actually have some validity.

Salah ready for Golden Boot fight

 

Anyone writing off Mohamed Salah for a third Golden Boot should think again.

Signs of the Egyptian reaching his traditional mid-season peak appear promising after racking up three in two Premier League outings over the past seven days.

In a week where Salah’s goals already hit the headlines, he actually gave that wonder strike in Salzburg a run for its money with two exquisite finishes here.

A curled finish and a nifty flick either side of the half-time interval carried all the class that many have come to expect from the former Chelsea forward.

Jamie Vardy may be sitting pretty now in the goal-scoring charts but Salah is not going to give up his two-time crown without a genuine fight to the finish.