England boss Gareth Southgate has revealed Jordan Henderson was substituted during the Nations League clash against Belgium because of ‘tightness’ as Liverpool’s horror run of injuries worsened.
The Reds skipper was withdrawn at half-time and replaced by Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks as the Three Lions were dumped out of Nations League contention in a 2-0 loss to Belgium at Den Dreef on Sunday.
In his post-match press conference, Southgate confirmed Henderson failed to play the second half because of a fitness issue – but he was not sure of its severity.
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Losing Henderson would be a big blow to injury-hit Liverpool, who were already reeling from news earlier in the day that Andy Robertson had picked up a hamstring injury in Scotland’s win against Serbia on Thursday.
With Henderson missing a significant chunk of Liverpool’s pre-season, Jurgen Klopp had carefully managed his captain’s game time, even withdrawing him at half-time during last month’s Champions League match against Ajax to limit his workload.
The Reds are already missing central defensive pairing Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez to knee injuries, and with Trent Alexander-Arnold already sidelined and doubts over Robertson, Liverpool are facing the prospect of taking on Leicester City after the international break without any of their first-choice back line.
Star attacker Mohamed Salah’s coronavirus diagnosis will also rule him out of Sunday’s clash against Brendan Rodgers’ side – with the Egyptian required to quarantine despite not suffering any symptoms from the illness
