30-year-old in line for Liverpool injury return – and it’s at the perfect time

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Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is in line for a return from injury against Brighton on Saturday. It couldn’t come at a better time for the Reds.

Jordan Henderson should return from injury to help Liverpool at Brighton today. The captain has missed two games now after going off for England.

The Reds didn’t particularly miss him against Leicester City, of course. It was a magnificent performance, all things considered.

But we saw the opposite against Atalanta. Liverpool were flat, unable to get going against a side willing to take the game to them. It was, in truth, a game tailor-made for Henderson.

So coming out of that performance, Henderson’s imminent return couldn’t be timed better.

Welcome back

Honestly, Liverpool just need Henderson back simply to help fix their mentality. It wasn’t there against Atalanta, especially before going behind.

The 30-year-old’s return should fix that quickly and add bite back into midfield. But there’s another reason that plays into this.

Liverpool may have just been incredibly tired against Atalanta. They played three days before and have a game under 36 hours after – that’s going to lead to fatigue.

And that would explain the lacklustre showing. Players were tired, knew there was more to come, and everyone else looked flat. It all adds up to what we saw on Wednesday.

Henderson, then, returns at the right time simply as an extra body in midfield. James Milner, Gini Wijnaldum, and Curtis Jones were Wednesday’s midfield but all three finished the full 90 against Leicester, too.

Henderson comes in as fresh legs, capable of showing energy the other simply couldn’t.

But he’s also the kind of player who can push players through their own fatigue. Henderson is exactly what Liverpool need after Wednesday, then – his return from injury is timed perfectly.