Wataru Endō has reportedly withdrawn from international duty this week, citing an injury, and the captain will therefore not feature in any of his side’s October matches.
Japan had been set to play in Kirin Challenge Cup matches against Paraguay and Brazil during this window, a four-nation tournament that takes place in Japan.
The FA reported the injury on Monday, but did not provide any information on the nature of the injury or his expected recovery time. Endō featured for Liverpool as a late substitute in Saturday’s loss to Chelsea in London.
Endō may thus join an injury list that — while slight — contains a number of defensive players: Giovanni Leoni is out long-term with the ACL injury he picked up on his debut; Alisson is out tentatively through November with his annual muscle injury; and Ibrahima Konaté went off also against Chelsea having felt something in his quad. The extent of Konaté’s injury is unclear, as he will have been told to be cautious given the current lack of depth, and Arne Slot has said that his substitution was planned, though the quad-related limp sped up the timing.
Joe Gomez is Liverpool’s only natural centerback depth at present, and should Endō see any spell on the sidelines there are no players who primarily play in defensive midfield roles to offer depth either. It is of course worth noting that Slot has leaned toward deploying players out of their natural positions to retain their skillsets, however, with Dominik Szoboszlai filling in at right back and Ryan Gravenberch rotating into central defensive positions as key examples of this.