The high-intensity, slick-passing, rapid-pressing style adopted by Jurgen Klopp has Liverpool firmly in the Premier League title race following a superb start to the season.

And the statistics show that their captain Jordan Henderson is the true heartbeat of this winning team - even if it is the exploits of Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane that steal the headlines.

Data gathered by EA Sports found that Henderson has completed more passes than any other player in this season's Premier League, racking up a total of 830 - almost 100 more than closest challenger, Fernandinho of Manchester City.

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson tops the passing stats in the Premier League

Henderson has been enjoying an excellent season with Liverpool joint-top of the table

Manchester City's Fernandinho has a high passing average so far this season

PREMIER LEAGUE PASSING STATS THIS SEASON Player Team Time played Total passes completed Passes completed per game Jordan Henderson Liverpool 884 830 84.5 Fernandinho Manchester City 900 733 73.3 Danny Drinkwater Leicester City 889 673 68.1 N'Golo Kante Chelsea 900 654 65.4 Paul Pogba Manchester United 810 630 70 Idrissa Gueye Everton 884 605 61.6 Nemanja Matic Chelsea 868 602 62.4 Cesar Azpilicueta Chelsea 900 594 59.4 David Silva Manchester City 777 577 66.8 Jake Livermore Hull City 850 575 60.8 Credit: EA Sports

Henderson is also miles ahead when it comes to the number of passes completed per 90 minutes - the 26-year-old averages 84.5 passes per match, again considerably more than Fernandinho's 73.3.

It confirms the enormous - though often under-appreciated - influence the England international has on Liverpool's matches and shows how he is a major reason why the Reds currently share top spot with Arsenal and City.

The figures also show Henderson has successfully completed more passes in the opposition half than any other player with 412.

The passing figures show Paul Pogba has been better for United than many have suggested

Leicester's Danny Drinkwater has maintained his title-winning standards from last season

The stats also show that N'Golo Kante has maintained his form from Leicester to Chelsea

And there could be no better illustration of this than his excellent through ball for Firmino to round off Liverpool's 4-2 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The passing stats also show that Manchester United's world record £89million signing Paul Pogba deserves a little more credit than he has been receiving.

The Frenchman comes in fifth in the table of the league's best passers, with an average of 70 completed passes per match and a grand total of 630.

The influence of one past and one present Leicester City midfielder is also shown. Danny Drinkwater comes in third in the list with 673 completed passes at an average of 68.1 per match, while N'Golo Kante, now at Chelsea, is fourth with 654 and 65.4 respectively.

Kante is one of three Chelsea players in the top 10, with Nemanja Matic and cesar Azpilicueta demonstrating how the Blues have blossomed under the leadership of Italian Antonio Conte.

Mesut Ozil has been Arsenal's creative force this season with 22 chances carved out

Chelsea's Eden Hazard features in the top 10 for passes in the opposition half

PREMIER LEAGUE CREATIVITY STATS Player Team Successful passes in opposition half Chances created Assists Jordan Henderson Liverpool 412 14 2 Mesut Ozil Arsenal 396 22 1 Fernandinho Manchester City 394 10 0 Santiago Cazorla Arsenal 382 10 2 Paul Pogba Manchester United 380 18 0 David Silva Manchester City 359 27 2 Philippe Coutinho Liverpool 344 25 4 Eden Hazard Chelsea 339 19 1 N'Golo Kante Chelsea 314 8 0 Nemanja Matic Chelsea 311 9 4 Credit: EA Sports

Kante and Matic are joined by Eden Hazard when it comes to passes in the opposition half, though it is actually City's David Silva who has carved out the most chances for his team with 27.

The Spaniard is closely followed by Coutinho with 25 and Liverpool's Brazilian star again shone during their win at Palace last weekend.

But while Coutinho takes the plaudits, it is the understated work of Henderson behind him that is keeping Liverpool ticking over.