Liverpool laboured to an insipid goalless draw against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday night, producing a blunt and dreary performance in the wake of the hangover after a devastating home defeat against Real Madrid in midweek.

Indeed, while the Reds were spineless in their defensive resolve against Los Blancos in the Champions League, the clash at Selhurst Park illuminated the stark deterioration in a once imperious attack, and Jurgen Klopp’s men now face a more daunting task in salvaging a top-four finish from their woeful campaign.

There were errors in abundance as Liverpool failed to channel any semblance of fluidity and relied on individual bouts of attack from the likes of Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah to test the Eagles’ goal.

While Palace failed to hit the target, with the Reds doing so on four occasions, it was a deeply alarming display overall from the visitors, with Jordan Henderson at the epicentre of the Reds’ struggles.

Was Henderson at fault in the draw at Selhurst Park?

For such a limp display, the blame cannot lay solely at the feet of any one individual, but given Henderson’s stature as Liverpool’s leader and captain, it was inexcusable that he produced a performance which offered so little in the way of positivity.

As per Sofascore, the 74-cap England international’s 6.3 match rating bettered only that of Naby Keita and Cody Gakpo among the Reds’ starting XI (6.2 each), with the Guinean midfielder withdrawn at the interval after a dismal showing that the Liverpool Echo’s match ratings labelled ‘dreadful’.

Taking 103 touches of the ball, Henderson might have been expected to use his wealth of experience to make good use of at least one of those, but having made no key passes and taken no shots, his offensive impetus was conspicuous by its absence. Combine that with the concession of possession on 15 occasions and it only gets worse.

Having also won just one of his seven attempted ground duels, failed to make a successful tackle and committed two fouls, it was a wholly forgettable night for the man who has skippered Klopp’s illustrious tenure. Journalist Tony McDonough stated early in the second half that the 32-year-old “got skinned” by Michael Olise, adding that it was “time to hook him and put [Stefan] Bajcetic on.”

Liverpool’s woes were perhaps best exemplified when Trent Alexander Arnold’s first-half free-kick lifted into the air with a resounding swing of the boot, ostensibly destined for the net, but inexplicably Henderson seemed to get caught up watching the flight of the ball and diverted it away from danger.

The point gained does push Liverpool into seventh in the table by a single point and back into a potential European finish, but eighth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion hold a game in hand on the beleaguered Reds. If cohesion cannot be rekindled, the omens do not bode well for the business end of the season.

If the likes of Henderson and Keita cannot produce more convincing performances than what they showed in south London, the onerous task of European qualification of any kind might just prove to be beyond this withered crop of players.