Mentioning the England vice-captain in the same breath as Salah and Van Dijk emphasises just how vital he has become in the engine room of Jurgen Klopp's seemingly unstoppable juggernaut as it hurtles towards a first league title since 1990.
Some would argue that he has always been the beating heart of a side that has reached successive Champions League finals, winning one, and narrowly missed out to Manchester City in last season's Premier League title race despite amassing a staggering 97 points.
But there has been an undeniable change in the 29-year-old's role that has made him more noticeable - and indispensable - a change that can be pinpointed to April of last year, when Henderson explained his more attacking role following a 2-0 Champions League win over Porto.
"Obviously, Jurgen saw (me play in) the England games. I felt good playing in that (more attacking) position. I felt more natural and it was something he said he would think about," said Henderson.
"I can do both positions and he sees I can do both. It’s basically what he wants and needs. I felt more comfortable and natural in that position for England, creating chances further up and doing what I enjoy doing."
Other than during Fabinho's two-month injury lay-off, Henderson has continued in that more advanced midfield role for Liverpool throughout this season - and the stats reflect his increased attacking output.
While playing as the team's deepest midfielder during the 2018/19 Premier League season, he failed to score a single goal and provided just one assist. Spending the final month of the campaign in a more advanced role, he scored once and created two goals.
This term, with the shackles remaining largely off, he has scored three goals, assisted four and most tellingly created eight clear-cut chances - twice as many as during the entire 2018/19 season.
On top of that, Liverpool's comparatively leaky defence, when held up against last season's miserly backline, in the early part of this term has continued to be referenced by fans and pundits alike.
The cold, hard facts however are that in Van Dijk's last 12 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions they have conceded just one goal. Throw in that he has completed more than 300 passes more (2,051) than anyone else in the Premier League this season and the superlatives deserve to continue for the unflappable Dutchman.
But his form, or at least his goals, have dried up. The Senegal forward started the campaign superbly, scoring 12 times in 18 matches, winning November's Premier League Player of the Month award and completing 2019 by being crowned African Footballer of the Year.
While he has also contributed six top-flight assists in total as well, Mane has managed to find the net on just three further occasions in his last 13 appearances. That has seen Salah overtake him as Liverpool's top scorer.
Unless Mane returns from his current injury lay-off in even better goal-scoring form than he started the season in, it is hard to see him picking up a trophy come awards night.
- is the only non-Liverpool player in the top seven contenders, which really should not come as a surprise given the Merseyside club's unprecedented run of form.
But how unlucky is the Belgian midfielder? Turn the clock back two years and he was the key cog in City's similarly unrelenting winning machine, which broke record after record and became the first team in Premier League history to amass 100 points.