Wataru Endo will be applauded onto the pitch at Chelsea as a Premier League champion – and Liverpool supporters have seen the “poetic justice” in that fact.
Endo is one of six players brought into the Liverpool lineup for their first game as champions, with Arne Slot ringing the changes with little to play for.
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Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were all given opportunities, with an all-new midfield trio for the Premier League.
It is the first time Slot has not started any of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in a league game and demonstrates his desire to rest key names while testing out others.
• READ: Liverpool lineup vs. Chelsea confirmed: Endo starts with 6 changes
Liverpool will be given a guard of honour by their opponents before kickoff, in recognition of their achievement in securing the title with four games left to play.
For Endo, it comes with two players who opted for Chelsea over Liverpool to the delight of their supporters – Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia – starting for the hosts.
Taking to social media after the teams were confirmed, Reds fans saw the funny side.
Wataru Endo getting 90 minutes against Chelsea today, as well as a Guard of Honour from Lavia and Caicedo, is the type of poetry Shakespeare wouldn’t dare to write.
It’s art.
Deserves it, our Japanese warrior.
— ?????? (@WilcoFtbl) May 4, 2025
Caicedo and Lavia giving Endo a guard of honour is poetic justice.
Inject it ?pic.twitter.com/C7OEx8KWMu
— Slotoholic (@Slotoholic) May 4, 2025
Chelsea’s L.F.C midfield will be giving Wataru Endo a guard of honour today.
Karma.
— Samuel (@SamueILFC) May 4, 2025
Caicedo and Lavia start which means they’ll both give Endo a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge.
I love this game.
— – (@AnfieldRd96) May 4, 2025
Lavia, Enzo and Caicedo guard of honour for Endo????????
— ? (@TheImmortalKop) May 4, 2025
Slot giving Endo his 1st start of the season against Chelsea so Caicedo and Lavia can give him a guard of honour pic.twitter.com/prQKm83l1O https://t.co/yiABseuCAM
— ???™? #HUGHESOUT (@KayLFC05_) May 4, 2025
Endo guard of honour https://t.co/pO5qLSetbX pic.twitter.com/H84U6Kg8lh
— Anfield Fix ?? (@AnfieIdFix) May 4, 2025
Caicedo and Lavia giving Endo a guard of honour. pic.twitter.com/EwlDp8R0A1
— Carl (@Carl_M79) May 4, 2025
I need the slowest guard of honour imaginable. Endo leading the way, grinning ear to ear, walking past players who wish they were him. ????
— ????? (@LFC_Lucas_) May 4, 2025
Caicedo, Lavia and Enzo Fernandez, another midfielder Chelsea fans see as Liverpool’s loss, are all hugely talented midfielders in their own right.
But the developments around the No. 6 role at Anfield – first with the £16 million signing of Endo after moves for Caicedo and Lavia fell through and then Gravenberch’s transition this season – have shown everything typically works out under this regime.
That is particularly the case given Lavia’s injury record, with Sunday bringing only his 11th start in two seasons while Gravenberch’s record of consecutive league starts ends at 34.
For Endo, it will be a quietly proud moment as he is applauded onto the pitch by players who followed ridiculously long contracts to Stamford Bridge while he was given the chance to become a champion at Liverpool.
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