Jordan Henderson: Liverpool are ready for whatever Man Utd throw at us
Tuesday 18 October 2016 00:36, UK
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is confident the team are better equipped to deal with Jose Mourinho's mind games.
Henderson reckons the Reds have still not fully recovered from the damage Mourinho's Chelsea team inflicted in April 2014 when they arrived at Anfield and won 2-0 to derail Liverpool's bid for the Premier League.
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The defeat turned out to be costly as Manchester City took full advantage to deny Brendan Rodgers' side the title, and the opportunity to become English champions for the first time since 1990.
Mourinho makes his latest visit to Anfield on Monday night, and it will be his first since taking charge of Liverpool's bitter rivals Manchester United during the summer.
Henderson thinks Liverpool are more co-ordinated under manager Jurgen Klopp to deal with Mourinho's tactics as he prepares for the Monday Night Football encounter.
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"We will be prepared for whatever is thrown at us," the Liverpool midfielder said.
"We'll play as we have been. If we keep doing that it doesn't matter what other teams will do. They'll not live with us."
While Henderson watched on in frustration during that costly 2-0 reverse to Chelsea two-and-a-half years ago, he concedes Mourinho's tactics were spot on.
"The way that they came and played was very clever from Jose," the 26-year-old said. "At the time we were on fire and the way they played the game was very slow. Sat in. I didn't play the game, I was watching from afar. It was difficult to watch.
"They made it very difficult - throw-ins, goal kicks, they were taking forever and that got everyone worked up in the stadium and it worked to their advantage in the end because they got the result they came for and the one that had a big impact on us winning the league. I will never really forget that.
"It was frustrating for me. I was a fan. I was in the crowd. I was shouting at the ref to get things going a bit quicker. It wasn't a nice game to watch, but full credit to him. It was tactically very good from Jose and he is a great tactician. He is a world-class manager.
"They will be prepared and they will have a game plan and we need to be ready and prepared for anything that is thrown at us. We have to be prepared for anything that comes our way and we will.
"He will do whatever he thinks he needs to in order to win the game."
Liverpool go into the game three points ahead of their visitors, on a run of four straight victories in the Premier League and will go top of the table should they win by three goals or more.
