No longer a priority like at Sunderland - but Jordan Henderson raises game in Liverpool’s win over Newcastle

There was an inevitable reaction from the travelling supporters every time Jordan Henderson touched the ball in the formative stages of the encounter.

Vociferous boos rang from the lower tier of the Anfield Road end. The Newcastle fans wanted to make their feelings abundantly clear. The Newcastle fans wanted Henderson to know he was still vilified.

Futile attempts

Despite leaving for Liverpool a decade ago, the Toon Army haven’t forgotten where Henderson learned his trade - their fierce rivals Sunderland.

It was an attempt to get under the skin of the born-and-bred Mackem. A bid to thwart his game and have a knock-on effect on the Reds.

But as the game wore on, those jeers markedly eased in volume before becoming barely a whisper. Newcastle supporters learned they were quite simply futile.

That’s because Henderson was not a bit bothered. In fact, judging by his performance, he thrived off such reactions.

Mo Salah might have netted his 22nd goal of the season, Trent Alexander-Arnold may have fired home a rocket and Liverpool indeed racked up an eighth successive victory with a 3-1 win.

The engineer

But it was Henderson who was the orchestrator. He was the one who pulled the strings in the middle, dictated play and ensured the Reds yet again picked up three points to stay on the tail of Premier League leaders Manchester City.

The England international slotted into a hybrid role of his usual position and as a deep-lying midfielder in the absence of Covid-victim Fabinho.

He took up the mantle magnificently.

Not only did he keep Liverpool ticking with short, sharp passes but he was also a potent weapon going forward.

We’re getting used to seeing Henderson spreading raking passes to set Salah free. How they are becoming his trademark, his party piece.

One splitting ball in the 10th minute slipped in Salah, whose decision-making let him down. Only a corner was won rather than an equaliser to cancel out Jonjo Shelvey’s breakthrough.

Then there was another delightful lobbed ball in the second period that Salah took down with aplomb.

That’s a stat

Henderson’s stats underline his importance to this latest Liverpool victory. The Reds might not have been at their potent best yet these are the sort of games title challengers need to come through.

In total, Henderson had 122 touches in the game, which was more than any other player.

He also completed 107 of his 118 attempted passes at a ratio of 91%. Again, that was unrivalled.

Unsurprisingly, in addition to his efforts going forward, Henderson did his fair share of the defensive work. He came out on top of all three aerial duels he was involved in and made two interceptions.

By the time the Newcastle fans got to mock Henderson again, it was late in the second half when he was forced to bring down the breaking Ryan Fraser and was booked.

Did that matter? Not at all. The subsequent free-kick was sent wide. Henderson not only took one for the team but stopped a potential goalscoring opportunity.

Henderson will know there are far bigger games to come than the latest triumph. With the utmost respect, a home over Newcastle isn’t high up on his priority list anymore like his Sunderland days.

Still, it’ll be a victory - and individual performance - he will quietly enjoy to himself.