Liverpool could start against Tottenham without Jordan Henderson, suggests Stephen Warnock

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Anfield will play host to Jurgen Klopp’s side against Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs this weekend.

BBC Sport pundit and one-time Liverpool player Stephen Warnock has suggested that Reds boss Jurgen Klopp could drop captain Jordan Henderson for this Sunday’s key Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.

The league leaders host Spurs at the weekend in a rematch of the Champions League final, but with both sides in different places – one is currently flying high with virtually no problems, the other has found itself suffering from inconsistent form and reported dressing-room unrest.

Nonetheless, it will still prove a big test for Liverpool against one of England’s big sides over the past few years, with a host of world-class players in their team and led by the superb Mauricio Pochettino, and the Reds will need to beat their fellow elites if they want to stake a serious claim to the title.

In his BBC Sport column, Warnock spoke of the Reds’ midfield and how Klopp has a selection headache in that area, having to decide who best complements each other, and then looked ahead to the Tottenham clash.

“In their next game, at home to Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday, who he picks might also depend on how he thinks Spurs will line up,” he wrote. “If Tottenham play in a 3-5-2 shape then Klopp will want someone in midfield who can get between their lines to cause problems.

“You would think that someone would be Oxlade-Chamberlain – especially given the form he is in. I would expect Wijnaldum to come back into the team too and with Fabinho cemented in the side, that would mean no place for Liverpool’s captain, Henderson.”

Warnock, however, sought to make it clear that it “would not be a message that Henderson is out of favour, though. Far from it. When you are part of a squad at a club like Liverpool or City, you have to understand that the team is being picked to win a specific game, and if you are left out it is nothing personal.”