Liverpool will be champions come May. In all likelihood, they'll be champions well before that. But their unbeaten run is over. Their insane run of wins has ended, and they're batshit crazy points total has taken its first real hit of the season.
Winning 26 of their first 27 Premier League games is a record beyond anything we've ever seen. Even Manchester City's record breaking run of two years ago couldn't match that pace. It was a level of dominance we'd never seen. It's something that other great runs will be compared to for generations.
Ultimately, losing to Watford away will be considered a blip for Jurgen Klopp and his team on an otherwise perfect copybook.
And while Livepool's season might yet prove to be the best ever top level performance, one record they will not be beating is Arsenal's unbeaten "Invincible" season of 2003/04.
Arsenal, with Arsene Wenger at the helm and Thierry Henry in his prime, were close to unstoppable that year, but were not as dominant as Liverpool. They didn't win as many points as Manchester City did in the last two years, or Chelsea would win the year after. But they were never beaten. And it's an achievement that's brought into sharper focus when you watch Watford upsetting the apple cart today.
Playing 38 games over the course of 10 months is an incredible grind. Liverpool couldn't handle a Watford team with a hard working desperation today. It's something that has happened to every great team in the history of the game. Except one.
Manchester City got 98 points last season, but lost to Newcastle, Leicester, Crystal Palace and Chelsea. Before that, they got 100 points, but managed to be beaten by Manchester United and Liverpool. The dominant Manchester United team of 1999/2000 lost three games. Chelsea in 2004/2005 were only beaten the once. But they were caught by a very mediocre Manchester City team that would finish in 8th place.
Only Arsenal have not been caught. They might not have been the greatest team. They drew a third of their games. But they were never beaten. They didn't have a Watford like off day for 10 whole months. And there's a reason their achievement wasn't matched before or since.
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