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Painful memories will be the source of added motivation for Jordan Henderson at Anfield on Monday night.

The Liverpool captain admits the presence of Jose Mourinho on the touchline gives an extra edge to the biggest rivalry in English football.

Two-and-a-half years may have passed since Mourinho took such delight in wrecking Liverpool’s Premier League title dream but his antics on that April afternoon still grate.

It was a masterclass in time-wasting as his Chelsea side were set up to stifle and pulled off the ultimate smash-and-grab raid. They took every opportunity to slow the game down and disrupt the Reds’ rhythm.

The tone was set inside the opening 10 minutes when Steven Gerrard had to wrestle the ball from the grasp of Mourinho, who had stopped him from taking a quick throw. As Anfield continued to rage at Mourinho, Liverpool lost their way and hopes of glory went up in smoke.

Henderson was sat in the Main Stand that day - unable to influence proceedings as he served a suspension.

“I will never forget the Chelsea game at Anfield when we lost and we were going for the title,” he said.

“It was difficult to watch. We were on fire really and the way they played the game, very slow, sat in, it was very clever from Jose.

“Throw-ins, goal-kicks, they were taking forever and that got everyone worked up in the stadium. It worked to their advantage in the end because they got the result they came for and the one that had a big impact on the title race so I will never really forget that.

“It was frustrating for me. I was shouting at the ref to get things going a bit quicker. Tactically, it was very good from Jose and he is a great tactician. He is a world-class manager and he has shown that in the clubs he has been at so it will be a tough game.

“Monday night will be a big occasion. If we can keep performing the way we are and win then it would sort of put that to bed.”

The question is will Mourinho adopt the same kind of spoiling tactics on his first visit to Anfield with Manchester United?

“They could do,” Henderson said.

“But it’s up to him, isn’t it? When we played them in the Europa League last season, we had them on the back foot because we had good momentum. We dominated the game and they never got off the back foot.

"But coming to spoil a game? I’m not sure. You can look at United and how they’ve played over the last few weeks and months and prepare, but it could change for this game.

“It’s for Jose to do whatever he wants, really. He’ll do whatever he think he needs to in order to win the game. We will just be prepared for whatever is thrown at us.

“People will have different tactics, different ways of playing. It might be to slow the game down early on or they might want to raise the tempo.

“We’ll just play as we have been. If we keep doing that, working as we have been, it doesn’t matter what other teams will do. They’ll not live with us.”

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That confidence stems from Liverpool’s highly impressive start to the campaign. Jurgen Klopp’s men go into the game on the back of five straight wins in all competitions and victory over United would put them level on points with leaders Manchester City.

The Reds haven’t hit these kind of heights since the thrilling title challenge of 2013-14. Back then they were inspired by Luis Suarez. What makes the current crop difficult to stop is that Klopp boasts an array of match-winners.

“Yeah, every player for me is raising their game and performing really well,” Henderson said.

“In the final third we have been very good - ruthless. We have some very talented players going forward and creating opportunities. We’re all getting on the scoresheet, we’re all getting assists, which helps us a team. If you are the opposition, you don’t know where the goals are going to come from because they could come from anywhere.

“I still felt we were a good unit when Luis was here, but obviously he stood out because he’s a world class player. He helped take all the pressure off because he was performing and scoring every week.

“Now everyone is performing really well but we can’t get carried away with anything. I am sure the manager will be right on top of that. It definitely won’t happen in this team with him managing it. We just got to execute the gameplan like the manager wants us to on Monday night.”

Henderson knows exactly what’s at stake when he leads the Reds into battle. This will be the 14th time he has faced United since his £16million move to Anfield in the summer of 2011.

“The derby with Everton is still huge but Man United has got a different edge to it,” he said.

“I have felt that with the games I’ve played in the past. I was quite blown away when I first came here and played in the first one or two. You don't realise how big it is. It is like a derby and it will be a special night.

“It doesn’t get much bigger than Liverpool v United really – whether at Anfield or Old Trafford. I’ve been fortunate enough to play in both and have bad performances and good performances.

“I tell you, the good ones feel very good, and the bad ones feel very, very bad. The atmosphere will be incredible at Anfield. It’ll be electric and that’ll help us.”

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Beat United and Liverpool will be six points clear of Mourinho’s men but Henderson insists their ambitions stem far beyond simply finishing above their arch rivals this season.

“I’m not sure we’re focused on just being ahead of United,” he added.

“We want to be the best team, not only better than Man United. We want to be better than everyone really and that’s the mentality we’ve set. To do that, you’ve got to perform in big games and this certainly is a big game. No words are needed to get up for this game.

“It means a lot to the fans. If we can put in a good performance and win the game that would give the fans those bragging rights. It will give everyone around the club the belief to go on and keep winning games to challenge for the title.

“It’s early days for us. We’re still improving. We’ve got to see how the next few months go but we’re going in the right direction.”

Jordan Henderson and Liverpool FC are supporting Standard Chartered’s Seeing Is Believing charity initiative, which helps the 285 million people around the world who suffer from preventable blindness. For more information or to donate visit www.sc.com/