The memory of Liverpool s collapse against Chelsea in the 2013-14 Premier League season continues to motivate Jordan Henderson as he prepares to face the Blues again.
The Merseysiders looked set to end a 24-year wait for a top-flight title when they faced Jose Mourinho s Chelsea five years ago, looking to stay clear of Manchester City at the top of the table.
But Steven Gerrard s slip let Demba Ba in for the opener and Willian netted a late second as Liverpool s title bid faltered and City capitalised.
Jurgen Klopp s men are in a similar situation this year, facing Chelsea with City hot on their heels, and Henderson a member of Brendan Rodgers team is determined to right that wrong.
Yeah, for me, it s just another thing I ve used to keep going, Henderson told the Liverpool Echo. I channel all my energy into winning games and being successful for Liverpool.
This is a fantastic team but it s a big month or so for us. Hopefully we can keep performing and keep winning to get the results that we need to get over the line.
You want to win trophies, especially when you are at this football club. I try to use that time as an experience and try to help the lads in the best way I can. This is a new chapter and a new team.
That Anfield noise. in 2014, Martin Skrtel netted this brilliant header in a memorable 3-2 win over .
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
Henderson feels this Liverpool side, who have the best defensive record in the Premier League, are more resilient than the class of 2014.
It s a totally different team, he said. The biggest difference between the team now compared to the team back then is that defensively we re a lot more solid.
We re conceding a lot less goals which is a big thing in the Premier League. That s the biggest thing that I would say. That season we conceded quite a few goals even though we might have been winning games.
It might have been 5-3 or 5-2 or something like that. We weren t as strong as we would have liked to have been.
We need to keep going with the clean sheets and defending well as a team as we all know the goals we can score with the quality that we have got.
