How Wataru Endo repaid Arne Slot faith with assured Liverpool midfield display vs Brighton And Hove Albion 

Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Brighton in the League Cup threw up plenty of talking points, among them Wataru Endo‘s reliability, Dominik Szoboszlai‘s positional change and Cody Gakpo‘s finishing.

With Ryan Gravenberch given the night off – he watched the game on his phone at a restaurant – Endo was awarded just his second start of the season.

Like in his previous start, against West Ham in the third round, Endo stepped up to the plate and gave a performance worthy of recognition.

Though he doesn’t have the same traits on the ball as Gravenberch, that Arne Slot evidently sees as crucial for his holding midfielder, the Japanese is still an asset to the Reds when on the pitch.

Playing in a double pivot in front of the defence, Endo navigated the game well, helping to guide 22-year-old midfield partner Tyler Morton through the game, too.

The area Slot may see as his weakness, a perceived lack of ability to receive the ball facing his own goal and turn defence into attack quickly, didn’t appear to be a problem at the Amex.

Endo was composed on the ball and wasn’t dispossessed once during his 64 minutes on the pitch.

He also used his body well to avoid being pickpocketed and was fouled three times, more than any other Liverpool player on the pitch according to FotMob.

While you could argue he should have released the ball quicker at times, he still completed 31 of his 37 passes (84 percent) and made three of those into the final third

In the summer of 2023, Szoboszlai arrived at Liverpool from RB Leipzig known for his exploits as a goalscoring attacking midfielder who could also cause damage from wide areas.

In his first season under Jurgen Klopp, he was moved into a box-to-box role and initially made a great impact – his thunderbolt against Leicester in the League Cup a particularly memorable moment.

As the season went on, though, his form dropped off as an attacking asset.

Under Arne Slot this campaign, the Hungarian has been used mainly as Liverpool’s most advanced midfielder, but he has still been more effective working off the ball than on it.

Against Brighton, with Diogo Jota injured and Darwin Nunez on the bench, Slot elected to play Szoboszlai in a role that can be described best as a false-nine.

The above image is WhoScored‘s map of the pitch with all the touches Szoboszlai took against Brighton on Wednesday.

The Hungarian wasn’t expected to suddenly become Roberto Firmino reborn, but there has been some reaction to his lack of potency in front of goal again.

He had two good chances but failed to finish either, though he could perhaps blame Cody Gakpo‘s poor pass for one of those.