Liverpool are set to be without Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota in next Sunday’s Premier League against Brighton due to suspension, and they risk being deprived of the former in domestic action until mid-November.
Both players were sent off in Saturday’s controversial defeat at Tottenham, and with the 22-year-old receiving a straight red card (well, once it was upgraded following a VAR review), he’s currently in line for a three-match ban.
However, that could be extended by an extra game, as highlighted by football.london. The Reds are expected to appeal the suspension, and if their case is dismissed as ‘frivolous’, they could be forced to do without the midfielder for four matches rather than three.
If the appeal fails and Jones’ ban is extended, he’ll miss the league games against Brighton, Everton, Nottingham Forest and Luton, in which case he won’t play in the top flight again until the home clash against Brentford in mid-November at the earliest.
However, should the FA overturn Simon Hooper’s decision – as they did with Alexis Mac Allister’s red card against Bournemouth in August (BBC Sport) – the 22-year-old will be free to face the Seagulls next weekend.
Jamie Carragher analysed the red card incident in detail on Sky Sports’ MNF this evening and explained that while the tackle might’ve looked bad from the still image the referee saw on the VAR review, there wasn’t excessive force in the challenge and the midfielder only had eyes for the ball.
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Jurgen Klopp will no doubt be praying that he’ll be able to call upon Jones – who he recently dubbed a ‘super smart‘ player – for Liverpool’s trip to the Amex Stadium, a venue where they lost twice in the space of 16 days last season.
Maybe the Reds are gambling by appealing the three-game ban, but there’s more to be gained from its prospective success than lost from its potential failure.
Also, they wouldn’t have moved to appeal it if they weren’t confident of getting it overturned. Let’s hope the FA sees sense and revokes the suspension.
I thought the red card appeal process went through an independent panel and not the FA?