Henderson on Liverpool’s Tactics Tweak of the Week

It looked to be a frustrating evening for Liverpool when Burnley scored on Wednesday night. But the Reds bounced back at Turf Moor to win the match 3-1.

Jordan Henderson led the side to a scoreless stalemate at half-time but during the break the captain says a few changes from Jürgen Klopp made all the difference when the teams took the field for the second half.

Liverpool were dominant in possession but struggling to turn their work on the ball into a goal. The players needed to move quicker and get the ball to the forwards and into attacking positions.

“I felt as though we had control of the game for large parts of it,” said Henderson. “It’s a tough place to come. They make it difficult. We knew that but I thought we dealt with it really well and played some good stuff.

“First half, we didn’t create too much. We tweaked it a little bit at half time, tactically. And I think it worked. I thought Studge and Shaq were getting on the ball a bit more and causing them problems.”

Klopp made several changes to his starting IX for the midweek game. It’s a move that may have contributed to Liverpool’s slow start at Burnley but the manager will have his reasons. Alberto Moreno and Joël Matip have been rarely seen this season but a match against a struggling side was probably a decent place to get those two some match fitness with a crowded schedule up ahead.

Divock Origi returned as striker after his legendary goal against Everton but failed to find any more of that derby magic. He did register an assist for James Milner but most of Liverpool's excellence in the match arrived once Origi had been replaced with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah came on for Moreno.

Still, Origi and Moreno and Matip could be called on again soon in order to rest the starters or cover for injury (Gomez, oh dear). Their performances on the pitch this week will help Klopp to assess his options through the holiday season of fixtures.

“The games are coming thick and fast,” Henderson said. “It’s a lot of games in a short space of time but we showed tonight that we can use the squad and still perform at the level that we’re capable of to win games.”