Captain Fantastic: In form Jordan Henderson beginning to look the part

Liverpool's march to the Premier League title is becoming an increasingly leisurely stroll. The Reds stretched their lead at the top of England's top-flight to 22 at the weekend, but while they are on course to claim the crown with ease, it's the intensity with which Jurgen Klopp's side take to each match that has made them such an unstoppable force.

The man tasked with with setting that intensity in his role as captain, Jordan Henderson has hit the form of his life and is proving more and more worthy with every passing match of lifting the trophy come May.

Previously criticised for a lack of quantifiable input, the midfielder has always played with great pride and determination but is now enjoying greater freedom in his possession and attacking play.

At times over a now nine-year Liverpool career the 29-year-old has appeared inhibited on the pitch but now that is a thing of the past. He's just 19 forward passes shy of the total he managed over the entirety of the 2018/19 campaign (428), while only seven outfielders in the Premier League have played more passes into the final third (206).

He's risen from 51st last season in terms of accurate passes made inside the final third to 20th this time around and that license to take more risks and operate further up the pitch is reaping rewards.

Prior to the match against Wolves less than a fortnight ago the England international hadn't scored and registered and assist on a Premier League start since December 2015. He's now done so in two of his last three appearances. A rating of 8.95 against Southampton at the weekend was his highest from WhoScored.com since 2014.

His recent form led Alan Shearer to state on Match of the Day, "I believe is the season was to end tomorrow he (Henderson) would be my player of the season, absolutely no doubt about it."

However, there's no question that Henderson's form has picked up over the last two or three months compared to a relatively slow start to the season. In fact, the midfielder only created a chance in one of his first eight league appearances and only completed a dribble in one of said matches.

While you could argue that's not his game, the stats prove it's becoming increasingly more so. Since that time, Henderson has completed at least one dribble in nine of 16 league appearances and created at least one chance in all but two of said outings.

That's despite maintaining his usual defensive work rate, having produced 12 more tackles than any other teammate over the course of the campaign (53).

Such an upturn in attacking output has helped the Liverpool skipper to earn a place in WhoScored.com's Form XI for the last two weeks alongside Kevin De Bruyne, and it's a spot he fully deserves.

While Jordan Henderson has undeniably been underrated for some time, he's now proving what he is truly capable of on a consistent basis. He looks every bit the Premier League winning captain, whether he wins any individual accolades or not.