Ismaïla Sarr: Watford's Senegalese Winger

For the first six months of the 2019/20 season, Liverpool reigned supreme as the hottest team in Europe, building an insurmountable lead in the Premier League title race and threatening to defend their Champions League crown. What’s more, they looked poised to replicate a feat not achieved in English football since Arsène Wenger’s 2003/04 Arsenal side: win a Premier League title without losing a single league match.

Up until February 18, Liverpool had only lost two matches all season: a 2-0 defeat to Napoli in the Champions League group stage, and a 5-0 thumping to Aston Villa in the League Cup (side note: Liverpool played their C team for that game). Even when the Reds looked set to drop points against the likes of Norwich City and Leicester City, they’d pull a rabbit out of the hat in the dying moments.

After securing a comeback 3-2 win against West Ham, it seemed as if it would be a standard run of affairs at Vicarage Road, as the league leaders took on a Watford side that had teetered in and out of the relegation zone throughout the entire season. Watford had failed to beat Liverpool since December 20, 2015, during the embryonic stages of Jürgen Klopp’s time at Anfield. It seemed as though Liverpool would brush aside the Hornets without any trouble.

Ismaïla Sarr, though, had other plans.