Jordan Henderson won a penalty cleverly, we need more of that

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Liverpool were having a decent start to the season until a humiliating defeat at Aston Villa. The Reds had won three out of three until then, in pretty impressive fashion as well. We do need to be ensuring victory with great ease though and we need to accept that we need to wise up to the state of play with refereeing now – Jordan Henderson won a penalty cleverly for England at the weekend, we need more of that at Liverpool.

Record penalties

The Premier League is on course to see a record amount of penalties this season.

So far there have been 20 awarded in the first four match weeks, meaning we are on course for 190 penalties this season if they continue to be awarded at the current rate.

Just why there have been so many penalties is up for debate, there is likely a number of reasons.

The nonsense handball rule has certainly played a part, as has VAR. In this writer’s view, referees are just being braver with no fans in the stadium – that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Jordan Henderson England penalty

This weekend Jordan Henderson won a penalty for England just before halftime in their 2-1 win over Belgium.

The skipper went down rather easily after being tugged back on the shoulder by Thomas Meunier.

It wasn’t enough contact to drag him to the floor but the defender was certainly trying to gain an advantage with the pull.

As such, the Liverpool man hit the deck, won the penalty and England went level.

We need more of the same

On the opening day the Reds won two penalties, they were absolutely stone wall.

However, other sides have won some pretty soft spot kicks throughout the campaign.

Over the years Mo Salah has been accused of going down too easily, now he doesn’t go down as often as he should do.

Given that referees now have the bravery to give a foul when they see it, Liverpool need to follow Jordan Henderson and buy the penalty.

Too often are we left frustrated by not getting a spot kick when the ref would’ve definitely given a foul if it was outside the box. Too often is Mo Salah too honest, staying on his feet when he could’ve quite easily gone to ground.

If the Reds are giving out pens like smarties, we should fill our boots.