Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Jordan Henderson will be back in the Liverpool squad for Sunday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference via Liverpool FC on YouTube, Klopp said his captain will be back from injury.
“Henderson is available. He trained yesterday as normal. He had a little thing but serious enough not to be involved on Wednesday [Tuesday],” said the Reds manager.
Henderson missed Tuesday’s win over Napoli, but thankfully it hasn’t proven to be a long-term issue for the skipper.
Henderson looking to kick-start his season
Klopp has been juggling the fitness of several of his starting midfielders over the last few weeks.
With Naby Keita not yet ready to play and Curtis Jones only just returning, the manager has had to find a balance.
Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Henderson have been Klopp’s first choice midfield for the past year or so. But with all three somewhat injury-prone, they have had to be carefully rotated.
With the team out of form anyway, this chopping and changing in the engine room perhaps hasn’t helped.
As results have deteriorated, both Fabinho and Henderson in particular have come under scrutiny. But after all is said and done, they are big players for Liverpool.
The captain’s leadership on the pitch is always missed whenever he’s unavailable. In big games, like the one at Spurs this weekend, you’d usually rather the £20m man was out there.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve some criticism. Henderson hasn’t been good enough this season. He’ll know that better than anyone though, and will be determined to put things right.
There have been shoots of recovery – his assist for Mohamed Salah against Ajax last week was delightful. Hopefully more of the same from Hendo at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.
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