Returning Henderson's influence key to Liverpool ending United's run

Despite current champions Leicester hosting the team best placed to take their crown in Chelsea, there’s little question as to the biggest game of the weekend in the Premier League. Manchester United prepare to do battle with Liverpool once again in the game that will round off the action in gameweek 21, and one that could have a significant bearing on the title race.

While it’s the Merseysiders that currently carry the greatest threat to Chelsea’s bid to regain the trophy, United enter Sunday’s match in superb form where Jurgen Klopp’s men have endured a disappointing start to 2017.

After a slow start to the season by comparison to their rivals, Jose Mourinho’s side have really found their feet, making a repeat of their performance in the reverse fixture last year seem highly unlikely. While they came away with a good point from Anfield the manager was widely criticised for his defensive tactics, despite that much being forecast before the game, with an Ibrahimovic effort in the 17th minute the Red Devils' only effort on target back in October.

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One player in particular that faced a fair amount of the flack that night was Paul Pogba, completing just 71% of a modest 38 pass attempts as the hosts limited his impact, though it’s fair to say he’s now silencing any early critics. Indeed, the Frenchman was named WhoScored’s Premier League player of the month for December, earning a rating of 8.31 across six appearances.

One of the main priorities for the visitors this weekend then will be to keep the world record signing quiet, which is now proving easier said than done, though with that in mind the expected return to the side of Jordan Henderson is a huge boost.

While he may not be ‘captain fantastic’ material, facing the unenviable task of taking the armband from club legend Steven Gerrard, the England international has gradually become an indispensable member of the team. A change in role this season, tasked with the deep lying role that will likely see him go toe-to-toe with Pogba at Old Trafford, has brought out the best in the former Sunderland man after an underwhelming campaign disrupted by injury last time around.

It’s been no coincidence that a winless run of three matches, beginning with a disappointing draw with his boyhood club before a stalemate with League Two Plymouth and defeat to Southampton in the FA and EFL Cups respectively, has coincided with Henderson’s absence with a heel problem. Between them Can, Wijnaldum and Lucas have failed to sufficiently recreate the captain’s influence in midfield, so ahead of their biggest away game of the season his return is timely to say the least.

While he's had his own doubters in the past, few would now debate Henderson’s contribution to the way that Klopp’s side have performed this season. He is the reference point for all of their passing moves and key to implementing the press once the opposition get past the Reds’ fluent front three.

An average of 86.8 passes per game in the Premier League this season is a whopping 18% more than his closest challenger - a certain Paul Pogba (73.6) - while only Idrissa Gueye (4.9) has won more tackles in the current campaign than the Reds skipper (3.9). His change in role is abundantly clear then, with both figures up by a huge amount on his respective averages of 55.2 and 2.4 from the previous season.

Where many questioned his ability to replace Steven Gerrard as far as his leadership is concerned, Henderson has very much stepped up to the plate. Perhaps not captain fantastic, the 26-year old has done his bit in leading by example just as his predecessor did for so many years, with a current WhoScored.com rating of 7.42 not only the best of his Premier League career by a distance, but the best of any skipper in England’s top-flight.

Henderson may return to a side that approach this weekend’s massive rivalry as underdogs given the form of their hosts, but he’ll have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that Pogba and co. are unable to stretch their league winning streak to seven, and with it ensure that the title race is kept alive.