Saturday’s 3-0 win at Watford was not as comprehensive nor as comfortable as the scoreline might suggest, with the Reds having to show patience, grit and determination to grind out a result at a ground where Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal have all lost in the past 13 months.

Liverpool rode their luck too, when referee Jon Moss decided Andrew Robertson had not hacked down Watford’s Will Hughes in the penalty area with the game goalless, on 55 minutes.

Last season started with a breathless 3-3 draw on the opening day, as Watford denied Liverpool all three points with a stoppage-time equaliser. There was no danger of that this time, and it was Roberto Firmino who got this game’s late goal, his first in the league for nine weeks, to make it 3-0.

The Brazilian is scoring fewer goals but creating more from a deeper position this season and his manager is pleased with the way he has adapted.

“In the last game against Fulham, 20 German coaches were in the stadium and when I saw them for a drink afterwards, they were saying ‘Bobby Firmino! What a player!’ Because of the small things he’s doing.

“He’s working so hard, he’s here, he’s there, he has five goals, and he opens 5,000 gaps for everybody.”

Firmino has no complaints about his deeper role.

“He will never come to me and say ‘because people are writing something is missing, could I play in my old position again?’ explained Klopp.

“He’s doing the job and that makes him so unbelievably valuable for us. We have to find a system where we can bring our quality on the pitch, and today we did it.”

Klopp said the maturity and patience of the performance pleased him as much as the free-flowing demolition of Fulham a fortnight ago.

“I couldn’t be happier,” he added.

“The thing is we have to win football games. Some people compare a game against Watford with a game against Roma, but it’s not the same. In their minds they think about the sort of football we played last season, but in some games, we played not that nice football and didn’t get a result but nobody remembers it. That’s why we had 25 points less than City.”

If winning ‘ugly’ is the key to keeping up with league-leaders City, so is patience.

“That’s what you have to do and why I said it was one of the most mature performances we had so far. We stayed cool. Usually, if concentration drops, we play a sloppy pass, they have a counter-attack and it’s 1-1.

“We have to work hard for the easy moments. If you expect an easy game you will never have one.” 

His point was echoed by midfielder Giorgino Wijnaldum, who said: “Watford made it really difficult for us to play our football and find the gaps, find the free men and create chances, but we just kept playing like we did in the first, and sped it up a little bit.

“We will always create chances and need to be patient. It’s something we are doing better. We were not getting frustrated because they were defending deep. You could see at the end we were creating more chances than at the beginning when they were fresh, but the longer the game went it was more difficult for them.”

Klopp also made the point that this season Liverpool are prepared to play the long game, both figuratively and literally. More than once, Virgil Van Dijk, excellent again in defence, was prepared to launch long balls forward towards Mo Salah and the outstanding Sadio Mane, who combined to set up the Egyptian for the opening goal in the 67th minute.

Trent Alexander-Arnold scored a superb free-kick to make it 2-0 nine minutes later, and Firmino added a third in stoppage time after a rapid breakaway led by Robertson. The only downside for Klopp was the dismissal of Jordan Henderson for two yellow cards, which means the midfielder will miss next weekend’s Merseyside derby.

Before then the Reds face a tough trip to Paris St Germain in the Champions League and they are unlikely to take the gung-ho approach that took them to the final last season.

Klopp recalled the semi-final first leg against Roma: “We had a flying start, and to be 5-0 against Roma is brilliant - then we conceded two and made it really exciting! What can we learn from that?

That we score next time seven against Roma? It’s not possible. We need to develop. We can’t compare this game is better or that game is better — we are as good as we can be, and at the end of the season we’ll see where we can be. I’m fine with the situation.”

WATFORD (4-5-1): Foster 6; Femenia 6 Mariappa 6 Cathcart 6 Masina 6; Deulofeu 5 (Success 67) Hughes 6 (Gray 75) Doucoure 7 Capoue 6 Pereyra 6; Deeney 5.

LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Alisson 7; Alexander-Arnold 7 Lovren 7 Van Dijk 8 Robertson 7; Wijnaldum 7 Henderson 6; Shaqiri 7 (Milner 74) Firmino 8 (Matip 89) Mane 9; Salah 7 (Fabinho 86)

Referee: Jon Moss.

Talking Point: Reds showing steel

It was not so long ago that Liverpool had one of the worst records in Europe’s top five leagues for points lost from winning positions, but Saturday’s win showed how Jurgen Klopp’s side have turned that stat around.

Last season’s equivalent fixture saw Watford score a stoppage time equaliser and two points dropped, but this season has been the opposite, certainly in the Premier League.

A late goal from Daniel Sturridge snatched a point at Chelsea in September, and they survived to draw against Manchester City when Riyad Mahrez missed a late penalty.

Their 10 league victories have wrapped up before the final whistle, and Klopp puts it down to a different mindset.

“If concentration drops, we play a sloppy pass, they have a counter-attack and it’s 1-1.”

The only instance so far came at Arsenal when Alexandre

Lacazette equalised in the 82nd minute to deny the Reds two points, but otherwise it has been a remarkable turnaround.