Jordan Henderson has made a premature return to Liverpool after being released from the England squad with muscle tightness, with the club hopeful over his chances to feature against Leicester.
Hearts were once again in mouths when the initial news of Henderson’s brush with injury came to the fore following England’s 2-0 loss to Belgium on Sunday, as the Reds continue to be dealt blow after blow.
The Liverpool captain featured in the first half of the defeat before being withdrawn at half-time, with Gareth Southgate later revealing that he was suffering “a bit of tightness” and was duly taken out of the game.
And with England’s next Nations League clash with Iceland on Wednesday effectively a dead rubber, common sense prevailed as Henderson has now returned to Liverpool “for further assessment.”
Henderson’s issue, reported by the Mirror‘s David Maddock to be a back problem is, thankfully, not a serious one and his return to Merseyside is seen as a precautionary measure.
With injury and illnesses continuing to hit the Reds hard, with Joe Gomez and Mohamed Salah the latest blows, Henderson’s early return comes as a welcome one ahead of a taxing festive schedule.
He will now have five days to rest and prepare for Leicester‘s visit on Sunday, a fixture Liverpool are also “hopeful” of seeing Andy Robertson available for after he missed Scotland’s defeat to Slovakia over the weekend with a hamstring complaint.
The left-back has travelled with his team for their final game against Israel on Wednesday and could yet feature, but the Reds will not be in any rush to throw him into the mix at Anfield after a demanding start to the season which already sees him in the red zone.
It could see Kostas Tsimikas handed his maiden Premier League appearance for the Reds in a much-changed back-line which could see Fabinho injected back into the mix should he return to full team training this week as planned.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold also to be absent, the Brazilian’s return to fitness in addition to the potential return of Thiago will come as a major boost for a Liverpool side besieged by setbacks in recent weeks.
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