Liverpool ‘disappointed’ in Merseyside derby and need to be more ‘clinical’, says Henderson

Liverpool “disappointed” in Sunday’s Merseyside derby and need to be more “clinical” going forward, says Jordan Henderson.

Jurgen Klopp’s men were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton at Goodison Park over the weekend, as they failed to get back to winning ways following the coronavirus-enforced break in the 2019-20 campaign.

Liverpool have been the Premier League’s standout side by some distance this season, but their usual attacking vigour was in short supply against their local rivals.

In the end, the Reds were lucky to escape with a point, as Klopp admitted himself post-match, with Tom Davies going closest for the hosts when he hit the woodwork in the 80th minute.

Henderson, who got a full 90 minutes of action under his belt against the Toffees, has conceded that the reigning European champions lacked a cutting edge during their first outing since March.

The Liverpool captain told the club’s official website: “I think we can be a lot better of course. We know that [but] there were still some positive things that I thought were good.

“We tried to adapt to the situation but overall obviously we are disappointed because we wanted to come here and get the three points.

“But there are still plenty of positives, a clean sheet and I thought we defended really well. We just lacked that bit in the final third.

“The intensity was pretty good with the counter-pressing with the ball higher up the pitch. I thought that was good.

“We were unlucky with a couple of injuries and hopefully they are not too bad. Overall, we’ve just got to take it, move on and try to be better in the next game.”

Liverpool are now only five points away from sealing a first league title in 30 years, but their coronation might have been delayed even further were it not for Alisson’s late save from Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s instinctive flick.

Henderson went on to praise the Brazilian for his contribution, before looking ahead to a meeting with Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

The midfielder added: “He has been outstanding all season and he’s come up with a brilliant save as well to keep us with a clean sheet, so that was important for us.

“Like I said, in the final third I think we can be a little bit better and more clinical but we’ll get ready now for Wednesday.

“Every game in the Premier League is tough and each team. You look at our next game against Crystal Palace, who performed well on Saturday, so every game we play will be tough.

“We’ve just got to perform as best as we can and try and win as many games as we can.”