Jurgen Klopp to unleash Wataru Endo after 'super' Liverpool admission and Takumi Minamino advice

Wataru Endo is expected to feature when Liverpool host Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night

While the Carabao Cup is traditionally a chance to blood some youngsters into the Liverpool side, a more experienced member of the squad is aiming to seize his chance on Wednesday night.

As the only senior defensive midfielder in the Liverpool ranks, Wataru Endo is something of Jurgen Klopp's specialist for the No.6 role.

While Alexis Mac Allister continues to adapt to the position with his technical surety and Stefan Bajcetic is still learning his trade in men's football on the back of a six-month injury absence, Japan captain Endo, in contrast, has been something of an archetypal 'No.6' for years during his time with Stuttgart in the Bundesliga and his national side.

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The signings of Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch might hint at a manager who is looking to move away from the more physical and hard-pressing nature of his engine room ranks but Endo still provides something of an insurance policy to protect a back four that more often than will contain a rampaging Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold in his 'hybrid full-back' role.

"I am always conscious about whether I can be in the best position both defensively and offensively," Endo says of his own particular brand of midfielding. "When we are attacking, I see if I can be between opponents' forwards and midfielders or I think about how they are trying to put pressure on us. Every team has a system.

"I try to see which player tries to put pressure on me and change my position based on what I see - and change where to move the ball to. It is the same for defence. I see how the opponents move to the ball in their system and think how I defend when a particular player makes a move. I always think about these things when I am playing."

It's been an eventful five weeks for Endo since his £16m move from Stuttgart was wrapped up over the course of just a few days.

Within days of learning of Liverpool's initial interest, the 30-year-old was being flung, head-first, in the thick of Premier League football following a red card for Mac Allister against Bournemouth, a dismissal that was later rescinded.

In a chat with Liverpool's official match-day programme, Endo adds: "I was surprised by the move but I thought if a big club offered for me it would only be Liverpool. I was following the transfer market and checking who was being transferred, but then my agent told me about the offer from Liverpool. I was still surprised and also very excited.

"I was feeling calm but my life was hectic! From moving to Liverpool to playing in the first match, there were only three or four days and I had to play in a 10-man team after the red card. Personally I felt organised and even though I was busy I did my best to prepare myself for matches. I am glad that I had a good debut and we won the match."

Since then, Endo started in that memorable late turnaround at Newcastle and once more had to play out most of his time on the pitch with a man down after Virgil van Dijk's first-half sending-off. A start at LASK in a much-changed Europa League lineup last week was more in-keeping with the general plan for the midfielder before a late cameo helped close the game out against West Ham on Sunday.

It's fair to say that Endo is still adjusting to what is being asked of him in Liverpool's midfield. As one of four new arrivals in that area of the pitch - and with experienced campaigners like James Miner, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho no longer there for general advice - a new-look set-up is learning on the job right now as the Reds continue what has been an excellent start so far.

“Wataru is a super guy," Klopp says. "Very calm and very polite and that cost him the first two weeks, maybe. He is not 30 or whatever and wants to get some people out of the way to get into the team, but he is improving every day.

"You saw that [against West Ham] he is there, he will help us a lot, he will play games, he will start games and all these kinds of things. It’s all good, he had already three or four games now for us in a very short period.

"That is what counts, it is not a short-term project. Wataru is a super-important part of the squad and I am really happy to have him.”

Endo reached out for the thoughts of compatriot and former Reds star Takumi Minamino after agreeing to join Liverpool and was given a handful of tips such as the best Japanese restaurants on Merseyside but on-field advice was kept to a minimum beyond a congratulatory message on joining a major European club.

"I'm gradually seeing what I should do to contribute to the team and what my role is," says the No.3. "I would like to fit myself into the Premier League and Liverpool ways. Also, I would like the other players to know what type of player I am so that we can balance our strengths and improve ourselves as players and also the team. My strength is defending."

With a midfield that is generally forward-facing given the skillset of the options within the department, Endo's defensive strengths will be needed in spades at times this season, you suspect.

"You don't want to speak to me today, no?" he joked as he made his way past the assembled reporters in the mixed zone on Sunday afternoon. If there was little to chat about after his five-minute run-out, there will likely be much more to discuss after Wednesday's League Cup visit from Championship leaders Leicester.