Liverpool analysis - Jurgen Klopp sends clear Wataru Endo message as brutal new reality bites
Endo puts forward case
It would be pushing matters somewhat to suggest the Europa League would ever act as an audition for a Premier League starring role for Liverpool.
But the three midfielders who stepped out here against Union Saint-Gilloise knew they were probably putting themselves in the window to replace the suspended Curtis Jones for Sunday’s trip to Brighton.
While Ryan Gravenberch was the standout and Harvey Elliott managed the full 90 minutes, perhaps the most telling decision made by Jurgen Klopp on Thursday evening was to replace Wataru Endo at half-time.
The substitution of the Japan international was one of a raft of pre-planned changes that also saw Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez depart.
And Endo had done enough in his 45-minute outing to suggest he could be in line to start alongside Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister on Sunday.
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Gone is the uncertainty that hampered his earlier performances, this a second midweek in succession he has looked far more comfortable in the number six role. Endo looks the player Klopp said Liverpool had signed.
And beyond dispute is the former Stuttgart man offers a defensive mindset none of the other senior midfield options possess, which would surely make him vital against the free-scoring Seagulls at a venue where the Reds were beaten twice last season.
Konate poses question
One of the more intriguing sub-plots of the opening months of Liverpool’s campaign has been the scrap for a starting place in the centre of defence.
Virgil van Dijk, as club captain, has been
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