This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has told The Mirror that there are four leaders in the Liverpool dressing room.

What did he say?

The England international was talking after the Reds' 2-1 win over Brighton at the weekend, which now puts them eight points ahead of Leicester City in second and 11 above Manchester City in third.

Speaking about the dressing room and the standards required at Anfield, he said: "The mentality in the team, and that winning culture - it just spreads throughout the team and that's the sort of mindset that you go into.

"The manager, he insists that the players the leaders in our team, Jordan, Milly, Adam, Virgil, they're all boys who demand the most of all of us - themselves first and foremost and then the rest of us.

"It's the sort of expectations that we have on each other and I think that's the mentality you need to be successful, to have those high standards that nothing else is acceptable.

"Then you've got to let history take its course."

Next older head

Indeed, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Adam Lallana and Virgil van Dijk are all players that have years of experience behind them at the highest level, and you can see their influence on the pitch. Every team needs leaders beyond just the captain, and the Anfield outfit do have that in abundance.

However, both Lallana and Milner are out of contract in the summer, meaning that Jurgen Klopp's side could be without two of their elder statesmen in the dressing room, and players who have 713 Premier League appearances between them.

Their knowledge and leadership will need replacing, certainly in the centre of the midfield, so that Henderson has someone to share that vocal burden with, and the former Arsenal man can be the player to step up in Lallana's and Milner's potential absence. Injuries have prevented him from featuring in more than the 176 top-flight matches he has done so far, but he has been around Premier League squads since the age of 17.

Should the former Leeds man leave the club in the summer, only Henderson will have spent longer in the Premier League than the 26-year-old. Even though the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah may be better players than him, as the Ballon d'Or rankings show - they finished fourth and fifth respectively - the length he has spent in English football's highest level will make him a valued voice both in the dressing room and on the field of play.

He has come a long way since those early appearances for the Gunners. But now, the 35-time England international is ready to make the next step, and he can be the man that others in the Merseyside club's team look up to.

In other news, this stat is the biggest proof of Liverpool's title credentials.