Jordan Henderson has quashed talk of tonight's Champions League tie with Napoli being a 'dead rubber' - insisting that no European fixture in front of a packed-out Anfield can be classed as irrelevant.
The pair meet on Merseyside tonight having both already qualified for the knockout stages, with the Reds securing their place in the February round-of-16 thanks to last week's 3-0 win at Ajax. Napoli sit top of Group A with five wins from five, but Jurgen Klopp's side can take top spot if they win by four clear goals - see what that could mean for the knockout stage draw here.
The unlikely nature of such a commanding win has led to claims that tonight's game is all-but meaningless, with both sides already through and already looking to the weekend's domestic football. But club captain Henderson, writing in his programme notes ahead of tonight, had rubbished such talk.
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“If someone had told me after our last game against Napoli that we would have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League before the next time we played them I would have bitten their hand off,” Henderson said. “This season has undoubtedly been a difficult one for us to date, but reaching the knockout stage of this competition after such a tough start is still an achievement of note.
“To reach this point we have had to win four successive games – two home and two away – against Rangers and Ajax and that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Yes, we have much higher expectations and bigger targets, but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy the steps that we take along the way to where we hope to end up.
“The one idea I don’t agree with, though, is the suggestion that tonight’s game against Napoli is ‘a dead rubber’. The job of getting through to the last 16 might have been done, but I just can’t get on board with the thought that this match is in some way unimportant.
“It might not be crucial in that whatever happens both Napoli and ourselves will go through, but a fixture involving Liverpool in Europe can never be written off as irrelevant."
An unprecedented level of fixture congestion - usually a burden - can be seen as an opportunity for Liverpool to right their domestic wrongs swiftly. The Reds saw an 18-month unbeaten home league run ended with a 2-1 defeat to Leeds United on Saturday, but Henderson insists tonight's welcoming of Napoli presents a chance to put things right.
“Once again we will play in front of a full house at Anfield and you, our supporters, never deserve anything other than a performance characterised by total commitment to the cause," the midfielder added. "The same goes for the history of this club.
“Every single time we pull on a red shirt we have an obligation to the standards that have been set over the years. To put it bluntly, we don’t get to pick and choose the occasions when we perform for Liverpool FC – playing well always has to be the objective.
“It’s for those reasons – and many others besides – that our recent form has been so disappointing. Everyone has their own views on why this has been the case, with some being more relevant than others, but as players our focus has to be on nothing other than putting things right.”
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