Jordan Henderson has challenged his Liverpool team-mates to use the pain of a bleak season at Anfield as motivation for a return to the top end of the Premier League.
The Reds host Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday afternoon and know they must stifle the league leaders' hopes of a first title since 2004 if they are to achieve Champions League qualification in their remaining 10 games.
Off the back of defeats to Bournemouth, Real Madrid and Manchester City, Liverpool ended their run of three consecutive losses in all competitions with a gutsy display during their goalless affair with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. It means heading into the Super Sunday spectacle, Jurgen Klopp's side are 13 points off fourth-placed Manchester United.
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Speaking ahead of their first Anfield outing since the 7-0 thrashing of Man United on March 5, Henderson has urged his side to utilise the pain and remaining fixtures of an underwhelming season to build a platform for a return to the summit of English football when the new Premier League resumes in August.
“There will be no semi-finals or finals this time around and no potential title deciders, but no-one should make the mistake of thinking that we do not have much to play for," wrote Henderson in his programme notes ahead of Sunday. "This is Liverpool Football Club and every game matters here, no matter what the targets might be.
“Unlike Arsenal, we will have no involvement in the title race this time around and that hurts, but this does not mean we can feel sorry for ourselves. Our objective now is simple: to keep going right until the end of the season and to do everything in our power to rediscover the form and consistency that has been lost.
“If we do that, our hopes of finishing as high in the table as possible will undoubtedly improve, even though we’re a bit off the pace now, and it will also give us something to build on next season. The gaffer has spoken a lot recently about the need to deliver and we all share that responsibility.
Despite their woes thus far in the Premier League, the Reds will take solace from the fact Arsenal have not won at Anfield since September 2012, when goals from Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla secured a 2-0 victory for Arsene Wenger's side. Too, Liverpool have lost just one league game on home soil this season, with their precarious league standing almost entirely a by-product of taking just 13 points from a possible 45 away from Anfield.
Speaking of the dissatisfaction, Henderson added: “Disappointing form can never become normal at a club like Liverpool and anyone who comes here in any capacity knows how high the standards are so it is up to us to live up to them.
“Channelling disappointment the right way, dealing with setbacks and developing all the time are essential parts of this process and this is as true now as it was when I first walked through the door here over a decade ago.
“So we have to embrace the challenge together. We know where we are and none of us like it. We also know where we want to be and how to get there because we have done it before.
“But knowing it and doing it are two different things and the only way for us to give ourselves the best possible chance of getting back to how we were is by performing on the pitch week in, week out.”
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