Gerrard gives Pool edge

Liverpool 1 Watford 0

Only a Steven Gerrard effort separated the two sides and Watford will fancy their chances of producing an upset themselves in a fortnight.

They have already beaten Southampton and Portsmouth in this competition so far, and Liverpool must know they face a real examination of their desire when the two sides meet for a second time.

Watford were by far the better side in the first half, severely embarrassing their Premiership opponents, and after a spell in the second period that looked like Liverpool were getting on top, Ray Lewington’s men staged a battling comeback that almost produced an equaliser.

Benitez was true to his word by fielding a strong side, although he was without Sami Hyypia with flu which saw Djimi Traore switched to centre back.

But Liverpool had enough quality on show to have produced a better performance than they did, particularly in a first half of errors when they were largely outplayed by the Championship outfit.

Watford made just one change from the side that held Fulham in the FA Cup on Saturday, with Welsh veteran ‘keeper Paul Jones replacing fellow old hand Alec Chamberlain.

A year ago to the day Jones made his Liverpool debut while on loan from Wolves for the club he supported as a boy. His welcome from the Kop was warm.

Watford’s near-6,000 contingent turned the night into a carnival with constant noise and hundreds of yellow balloons cascading onto the pitch, where they were left to swirl around in the gale-force conditions.

And Watford gave no indication of being blown away by their Premiership hosts with a dogged five-man midfield working to limit space for Liverpool’s more lightweight players like Luis Garcia, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Antonio Nunez.

Luis Garcia’s 20 yard volley, held comfortably by Jones, was the only attempt to trouble Watford early on, although Nunez’s run and cross created a first time chance that Sinama-Pongolle volleyed wide on the run.

Watford were quicker to the ball, organised and committed with skipper Gavin Mahon and midfield colleague Brynjar Gunnarsson bossing the game.

And they created two fine chances in the space of 60 seconds when first Hameur Bouazza and then Gunnarsson both saw fierce headers go close. Bouazza then had a shot charged down following a run and cross from Paul Devlin, who had provided the ammunition for the earlier efforts.

Watford’s industry made Liverpool look pedestrian and they were hounded into far too many mistakes and misplaced passes. Confronted by muscle and energy, some of Liverpool’s players seemed timid and unprepared for the physical challenge.

The need for pace, penetration and sheer desire must surely have been drummed into Liverpool at the break and they showed more urgency instantly in the second period with Gerrard seeing a curling effort just clear the bar while Sinama-Pongolle, at least, seemed prepared to attack defenders.

It was Pongolle and Gerrard who helped to create Liverpool’s first serious chance with Mellor being played into the box only for Jones to save his shot well with his legs.

Benitez had clearly seen enough and two minutes later Baros was introduced with Mellor being hauled off.

And on 56 minutes Liverpool stole the lead when Baros found space on the left and crossed the ball which eventually fell to Gerrard. This time his shot was goal-bound and on target but Neil Cox’s headed attempt to clear the danger only sent the ball high into his own net.

Watford were forced to commit more men forward now and that left gaps for Baros and Sinama-Pongolle to exploit. But the Hornets had no intention of caving in and the grafting of Helguson kept them in it.

Baros flashed a shot wide and Gerrard was given space to run at the defence before unleashing a drive that Jones saved at the second attempt.

But Liverpool’s search for the cushion of a second goal was abandoned in the final minutes as they were forced to defend desperately to stop Watford drawing level. Cox almost managed it with a long range free-kick and only a tremendous saving tackle by Traore on Helguson, who had forced his way clear, kept Liverpool in front.

LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Traore, Riise, Nunez, Gerrard, Hamann (Biscan 71), Luis Garcia, Mellor (Baros 53), Sinama Pongolle (Warnock 78).

WATFORD: Jones, Chambers, Cox, Demerit, Darlington, Devlin, Gunnarsson, Ardley (Blizzard 81), Mahon, Bouazza, Helguson.

Ref: S Dunn