**Liverpool expect to be without Wataru Endo for ‘a long, long time’.**
Endo was stretchered off in the second half of the Premier League champions’ 1-0 win over Sunderland with an ankle injury after his foot became planted in the turf.
The Japan international was replaced by Joe Gomez as Arne Slot’s side faced up to another setback in their attempts to cover the right-back position this season.
Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley are sidelined while Endo had deputised at the Stadium of Light due to fellow midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai’s suspension.
Slot admitted after the Reds’ victory in the North East that the early indications suggest that the 33-year-old is facing a lengthy lay-off after his misfortune.
He said: “Yes, it’s a serious one.
“How serious we don’t know yet because it still has to be assessed tomorrow, but it doesn’t look good.
“I’m not too sure \[if it’s his ankle\]. It’s his foot, but if it is his ankle or his foot, that is what we have to assess tomorrow.
“I assume he will be out for a long, long time. What is long, it is difficult to say at this moment.
“But you can hardly believe what this right full-back position brings us this season.”