Jurgen Klopp admitted Watford had provided a 'tough opponent' but said their scrappy victory had gone to plan as Liverpool emerged with three points from Vicarage Road tonight.

The Reds scored the only goal of the game in first-half injury time through Emre Can and had to ride a spell of Hornets pressure towards the end, culminating in Sebastian Prodl hitting the crossbar in the final seconds.

Klopp felt Liverpool's victory had been far from perfect, but was understandably satisfied after what ultimately proved a job well done in Hertfordshire.

"It was a difficult game," he said. "We played against an opponent who is difficult to play.

"It’s not possible to create chance after chance, and we improved from last week where we didn’t look patient enough and looked better.

"We invested a lot and we couldn’t keep the energy level until the end, and at the end we could’ve scored one or two more but they were not the biggest chances.

"It went like we wanted and that feels pretty good."

Had Prodl netted his second of the season it would have proved fair reward for Watford for their efforts in keeping Liverpool at bay bar Can's world-class finish, and Klopp revealed it could have had more serious consequences than just earning the Hornets a draw.

"I said to the players after the game if they wanted to kill me that’s a good way to try it," he joked. "You see the situation, we had already defended it but what can you say.

"They tried everything for 97 minutes and if you make this one mistake, it could have led to the goal. That’s how football is at the highest level."