Jordan Henderson was forced off with a hamstring injury against Atletico Madrid to compound what was a miserable night for Liverpool at the Wanda Metropolitano.

The Reds were defeated 1-0 by Los Rojiblancos in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, which leaves them in a precarious position going in to the return match.

Whilst they may be playing that clash in front of their own fans, a goal from Atletico will leave Liverpool needing to score three times, which is easier said than done against Diego Simeone's men.

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Losing Henderson, though, is perhaps an even bigger blow. The 29-year-old is the club captain and has been in terrific form so far this term - there have even been suggestions that he could win Player of the Year.

Neil Jones claims that, while he isn't sure how bad the issue is, recovering from such a problem can take anywhere between three weeks and three months. Even in the best case scenario, he is likely to miss the clash against Atletico.

That means that someone will need to step into the void and replace both his contribution on the pitch from an ability appoint of view and, perhaps more importantly, his vocal leadership. On paper, that man should be James Milner.

The 34-year-old - who earns £140k-per-week according to Spotrac - is one of the elder statesmen in the Liverpool squad, and has a trophy cabinet brimming with medals - he won the Premier League title twice with Manchester City, for example. As a central midfielder, he is best placed to take Henderson's spot.

Given his age, he is a player who is more likely to take on a reserved role rather than a box-to-box approach, but he has plenty of defensive qualities - he has regularly averaged over two tackles and one interception per match in recent years, which is similar to Henderson this term.

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With two goals and two assists in six Premier League starts this season, he can still provide going forward, meaning that Liverpool may not miss the former Sunderland man's three and five respectively in the top tier.

Milner is now in the twilight of his career - he surely doesn't have too long left at the top. This Henderson injury, though, may just give him the chance to prove there is life in him yet.

Meanwhile, this youngster compared to Mesut Ozil is one for the future for Liverpool.