Rio Ferdinand has explained what he thinks Liverpool are missing without Jordan Henderson.
The Reds captain has been sidelined for the past three matches in all competitions with a hamstring injury. Henderson was forced off injured during Liverpool’s win over Newcastle United last month, and has not featured since.
Henderson missed Liverpool’s draw with Everton in the Premier League and the 4-1 defeat to Napoli in the Champions League. The Reds skipper was also absent from the squad for Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Ajax at Anfield.
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Speaking after that game, Ferdinand has explained why Henderson’s absence has proved to be a problem for Liverpool. The former Manchester United defender went on to claim what he thinks the Reds have “lost” due to Henderson being injured.
“Jordan Henderson’s role in this team cannot be undervalued,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“There’s a lot of people and you see murmurs on social media that he’s getting a bit old, Jordan Henderson.
“His role in this team is to protect the right-hand side, he marshalled that side, as soon as anyone vacated the right-back, wide right slot he’d be security. He’d be there, they’ve lost that.
“They’ve added another dimension in [Harvey] Elliott and the way he interchanges with [Mohamed] Salah and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] but they’ve lost that stability, that steeliness of that honest positional sense to allow those players on that side.
“That’s why we’re seeing more opportunities to exploit that area because there’s nobody sitting there waiting.”
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