VICARAGE ROAD will be the place to be in a fortnight as Watford seek to overturn a single goal deficit against Liverpool and reach the Carling Cup Final.

The Hornets produced a superb Semi-Final first leg performance at Anfield on Tuesday, January 11 and could justifiably claim to be unfortunate to lose to a second-half strike from England star Steven Gerrard, having had their own chances to score.

Rafael Benitez's side were never allowed to get into the stride and for parts of the game were made to look decidedly average as Ray Lewington's side, backed by a magnificent 6,000 plus fans, implemented their game-plan superbly.

Apart from bringing Paul Jones back in goal as expected, Watford were unchanged from the side which drew 1-1 with Fulham in the FA Cup. Alec Chamberlain was on the bench, with Anthony McNamee the player to miss out on the 16.

Thanks to the postponement of their FA Cup tie with Burnley, Benitez had a fully rested squad and opted to field a strong team, but still made three changes from their last outing - the 2-1 Premiership victory over Norwich one of which was enforced with Sami Hyypia ruled out with flu. In came Djimi Traore, Dietmar Hamann and Florent Sinama-Pongolle, with Stephen Warnock dropping to the bench, but Salif Diao missed out. The fit again Milan Baros was also among the substitutes.

Attacking the Kop, Liverpool set out their stall from the opening whistle but they didn't manage an attempt on goal until after five minutes when Luis Garcia dragged a shot well wide from distance. Three minutes later Garcia had a more accurate attempt from a similar range, but Jones was right behind it.

The Reds next chance arrived on 13 minutes when Antonio Nunez got away from Jermaine Darlington down the right and pulled a cross back to Sinama-Pongolle, who struck a first-time angled attempt over Jones' goal.

Watford then enjoyed a good mini-spell of pressure after 16 minutes when Hameur Bouazza, who was well positioned in the area, mis-hit a Paul Devlin cross out to the right side of the area where it was retrieved by Heidar Helguson, who laid it back to Devlin and his second cross was headed at Jerzy Dudek by the unmarked Bryn Gunnarsson.

Bouyed by this, the Hornets launched a sweeping counter-attack four minutes later after Gunnarsson had won the ball off Gerrard near the edge of the Watford area, and the move climaxed with Bouazza having a shot blocked and then some close skill from Darlington near the outside of the area ending with an ineffectual cross.

The home side had the next attempt after 23 minutes, with Neil Mellor sending a downward header at Jones following a Hamann cross, but Watford continued to hold their own until past the half-hour mark.

And it was the visitors who enjoyed the better of the next phase of play, looking the more composed side and keeping possession well, and they had a half-chance after 39 minutes when Helguson headed a Devlin cross from the right back across the face of the six-yard box.

A minute before the interval it looked like Liverpool might break through when Gerrard finally found some space in the centre circle and slid in Mellor, who got free momentarily but was stopped by an excellent covering tackle from James Chambers.

The Reds did manage to force a couple of corners before half-time but the Hornets held firm to complete a marvellous first-half display.

Gerrard wasn't far away with a curling shot three minutes after the restart that landed on the roof of the net after Chambers let a clearance downfield bounce, but soon after Neal Ardley was trying his luck from distance, although the shot landed well back in the Kop.

Liverpool created their first proper clear-cut chance after 50 minutes when a loose Helguson pass allowed Gerrard, breaking forward, to pick up possession and he fed Mellor on the right side of the area, but the striker's shot was blocked by the legs of Jones and Watford were able to regain the ball.

Benitez opted for a predictable change two minutes later, bringing on Baros for Mellor, and a minute later Jones had to go to ground to hold a low, left-footed drive from Gerrard.

But the Reds' early second-half pressure then paid off after 55 minutes when Baros was played in down the left and he raced forward before sending a low cross in to the box. Neil Cox, tracking back, rather got in the way of Jones, who managed to get a hand to the ball, but he could only parry it out as far as Gerrard, whose on-target shot towards the far post was met by the head of Cox on the goalline, but he was unable to keep it out, as the home side moved into a 1-0 lead.

Watford though, didn't let the setback affect them and on the hour they might have equalised when Helguson laid a ball off to Bouazza on his blindside, but the striker fired over from a tight angle on the left side of the area.

Baros did have the ball in the net again after 66 minutes following a magnificent pass from Gerrard with the outside of his left foot, but the whistle had long since gone for offside, before Liverpool made their second change after 70 minutes, with Igor Biscan replacing Hamann.

The Hornets had another sniff of an opportunity after 73 minutes when Gavin Mahon found Helguson, who was briefly in space near the edge of the area, but he chose to check back inside to try and create a more central shooting position, and was tackled.

Two minutes later, Baros fired wide of the far post from the edge of the area after winning a tussle with Jay DeMerit, and within seconds Chambers was booked for a foul on Garcia. Then Gerrard rifled in a shot from 25 yards which Jones held at the second attempt, with a little assistance from Cox.

Benitez made his final change after 77 minutes, with Stephen Warnock replacing Sinama-Pongolle, and three minutes later Dominic Blizzard entered the fray for Ardley.

Watford continued to look for a way back, and with four minutes to go Cox saw a piledriver free-kick from 30 yards deflected behind, and two minutes later Helguson looked like he was in when Bouazza's ball forward set him briefly free, but a combination of the ball not coming down quick enough and the attention of Traore saw his effort go wide of the near post, as the visitors came off beaten, but by no means out of the Semi-Final.

Liverpool: Dudek; Finnan, Carragher, Traore, Riise; Nunez, Hamann, Gerrard, Luis Garcia; Mellor, Sinama-Pongolle. Substitutes: Baros for Mellor after 52 mins; Biscan for Hamann after 70 mins; Warnock for Sinama-Pongolle after 77 mins; Potter and Harrison not used.

Watford: Jones; Chambers, Cox, DeMerit, Darlington; Devlin, Gunnarsson, Mahon, Ardley; Helguson. Substitutes: Blizzard for Ardley after 80 mins; Dyer, Webber, Doyley and Chamberlain not used.

Bookings: Chambers for a foul on Garcia after 75 mins.

Attendance: 35,739.

Referee: Steve Dunn.