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Monday Night Football: Jamie Carragher on Liverpool's defensive strength

"Is it a little bit more like the Liverpool teams I played in? They probably do play a little bit more football than we did but they can actually rely on the defence to win them a game."

Liverpool beat Watford 3-0 at Vicarage Road
Image: Liverpool beat Watford 3-0 at Vicarage Road on Saturday

Jamie Carragher has praised Liverpool's defensive strength this season, saying Jurgen Klopp can now rely on his defence to win matches.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their opening 13 matches of a Premier League season for the first time since 2007/08 following their 3-0 win at Watford at the weekend and their haul of 33 points from 13 games is now their highest tally since the Premier League began.

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It's a start that's been built from the back with the Reds conceding just five goals in the league so far - the fewest they've ever let in after 13 matches of a league season. However, they've so far failed to reproduce the free-flowing football in attack which saw them score 84 goals in the league last season.

And Carragher has noticed a slight change in Liverpool from last season.

Virgil van Dijk
Image: Virgil van Dijk has been instrumental in Liverpool's excellent start to the season

"It's interesting because the narrative all season has been about when Liverpool are going to start playing like last season," the former Liverpool defender told Monday Night Football.

"However, it may get to the stage where we ask are Liverpool maybe slightly different this season.

"Don't forget there's no Philippe Coutinho. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain brought great drive and pace from midfield. The front three were away at the World Cup also.

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"You've now got Virgil van Dijk and a goalkeeper."

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Jamie Carragher and David Ginola looked at Trent Alexander-Arnold's free-kick technique after his stunning goal against Watford.

Carragher went on to compare the current Liverpool team to the sides he played in at Anfield, saying their style this season is more reminiscent of the styles used under Rafael Benitez and Gerard Houllier.

"Is it a little bit more like the Liverpool teams I played in?" he added.

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Highlights from Liverpool's 3-0 win over Watford in the Premier League.

"Last season I said this team plays football that our teams never played. But it's actually now going back a little bit to maybe Benitez and Houllier's sort of time.

"They probably do play a little bit more football than we did but they can actually rely on the defence to win them a game."

Watch Liverpool vs Everton live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event from 4pm on Sunday.

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