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Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo has withdrawn from international duty after being called up to play for Japan in its matches against Paraguay and Brazil in the October break.
The Japanese FA announced today that Endo will not be involved for his country, citing an injury. The 32-year-old was a late substitute for the Reds on Saturday as they were beaten 2-1 at Chelsea in the Premier League.
A statement read: "Japan National Team) will be without Wataru Endo (Liverpool FC) due to injury in the Kirin Challenge Cup 2025 (October 10th vs. Paraguay in Osaka, October 14th vs. Brazil in Tokyo)."
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot will hope Endo is not sidelined for too long as the injuries are beginning to pile up for his side.
Alisson Becker and Giovanni Leoni are currently sidelined, while Ibrahima Konate picked up a knock at Stamford Bridge and Andy Robertson was also seen limping at the end of the game.
On Konate, Slot said he took the Frenchman off before the problem worsened, though it was a change that he might have made anyway to add more passing ability in his defense.
"I don’t know if it is a big injury, but what I do know is he limped a little bit and when I asked him he said he felt his quad a little bit," the Liverpool boss explained.
"Then, for me, all alarm bells go off because in another sprint you never know if that is going to go good.
"It was also already a substitution I had in mind, maybe for a few minutes or a little bit later, because the right centre-back had a lot of ball possession and we needed to create from that position. We all know Ryan [Gravenberch] is quite good in that.
"It might be OK that he went off early enough but it was clear I had to take him off because he was limping."
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