‘You can’t leave out’: Richard Keys claims £20m player simply has to start for Liverpool right now

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Richard Keys has claimed in his latest blog post that Jordan Henderson simply has to start for Liverpool right now.

The £20 million man was dropped to the bench for Liverpool’s 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Klopp named a slightly surprising starting XI as Curtis Jones came back into the side, alongside youngsters Fabio Carvalho and Harvey Elliott.

The Reds were massively underwhelming on the day and failed to build on the positive results against Manchester City and West Ham United.

Now, Keys has slammed Klopp for dropping Henderson to the bench and playing ‘babies’ in midfield.

Keys claims Henderson has to start for Liverpool

“Klopp cost Liverpool at Forest. His team selection was all wrong,” Keys wrote in his latest blog.

“I know they’ve got injury problems and losing Tiago so late was a real blow, but you can’t then leave out Henderson and Alexander-Arnold.

“He had babies in mid-field and they weren’t good enough. They tell me that Henderson needs to be ‘managed’ these days. Maybe he does, but he’s only started eight games this season. Surely he’s got more in his tank yet?”

At 32, Henderson is now past his prime years but is still proving to be a reliable player for Klopp.

The England midfielder has only started seven games in the Premier League so far this season, but was ruled out for three games with a hamstring injury in September.

Klopp’s side have struggled to get back to their best this season and they haven’t been helped by the growing injury list at Anfield.

The German boss is probably rotating his side more often to help his players avoid picking up any injuries.