Tim Sherwood notices Jordan Henderson's sly move during Liverpool's win over Brentford

Tim Sherwood has praised Jordan Henderson for his "very clever" involvement in Liverpool's opening goal against Brentford.

The Reds climbed up to second in the Premier League table as a result of the comfortable 3-0 triumph over the Bees at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

Fabinho's headed-opener shortly before the half-time interval was added to in the second period by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino as Liverpool returned to winning ways in the Premier League.

Jurgen Klopp's side had failed to win any of their previous three league matches and Fabinho's goal moments before the break relieved the Anfield tension following an eventful couple of weeks.

David Rawcliffe/Propaganda Jordan Henderson celebrates with Liverpool goalscorer Fabinho against Brentford

However, while the Brazilian soaked up the plaudits after finding himself on the scoresheet again following an FA Cup double last weekend, it was the role of Reds' skipper Henderson which was singled out for praise by Sherwood.

As an in-swinging Trent Alexander-Arnold corner made its way into the Brentford penalty area, Henderson positioned himself in front of Bees forward Ivan Toney on the goal-line and pinned the attacker back.

The cross then evaded almost everyone, bouncing in the six-yard box before eventually springing up in front of Fabinho, who glanced home at the back post.

“Very clever from Henderson,” Sherwood told Premier League Productions. “Ivan Toney is the free man. Henderson looks like he is not bothered in the play.

“All of a sudden, as soon as that ball comes over. He pins him. He doesn’t let him out and doesn’t let him attack the ball.

“I am not sure Toney heads it anyway. But Henderson has just realised it, he has looked at the other corner and he has said: ‘He is heading corners out at the near post area. I am going to pin him. Eliminate him. Take him out of the action.’

SKY SPORTS Tim Sherwood praised Henderson for this

“And that’s exactly what he did. I think there is just cleverness. Sometimes, you don’t do things on the training ground.

"You have to learn on the spot and Henderson is such a clever player like that. That’s the reason they score the goal.”

Liverpool manager Klopp was understandably thrilled with his side's 3-0 win over a Brentford side who have caused a number of Premier League teams issues this season, including the Reds earlier in the campaign when the two sides played out a dramatic 3-3 draw.

Speaking after the game, Klopp praised his side for their patience whilst also lauding the team for their effectiveness from set-pieces.

“The set-pieces were really good today," the German admitted. "You need patience. You cannot lose focus or get sloppy.

"You have to stay full of desire even when you don’t find direction. We had to switch sides, play it quick and all these kinds of things. We really controlled it in the second half. That’s good."

Question marks had been raised over how the Reds would cope this month in the absence of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, who are both away on international duty at the African Cup of Nations, especially after the midweek stalemate with Arsenal.

Liverpool looked particularly blunt in attack during their goalless draw with the Gunners in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final clash on Thursday, but Klopp revealed today's performance will relieve some of the doubts over the loss of his two star strikers.

“It’s completely normal," he added. "We knew it would happen when the boys went away. It’s really helpful the result today to calm these discussions down a little bit.

“You’re right, I understand the thoughts behind it but they are not here so we don’t talk about the boys who are not in. We find ways to break the opponents down. 

Reference: Mirror: Michael Gowler