Liverpool must be wary of another possible suspension after Premier League rule made stricter

One Liverpool player could soon join the list of suspended players after a Premier League clampdown, potentially forcing the Reds to repeat a Fabinho plan.

Liverpool will be without midfielder Curtis Jones for its next three Premier League games after an unsuccessful appeal against the red card he was shown during Saturday’s defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Jones was initially booked for a challenge on Yves Bissouma, but referee Simon Hooper was then sent to the pitchside monitor to review the challenge and upgraded the punishment to a straight red.

Because of the nature of the offense, the 22-year-old will now serve a three-match ban that sidelines him until the start of November, when Liverpool heads to Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup.

Meanwhile, Diogo Jota will be unavailable for Sunday’s trip to Brighton after picking up two yellows in the second half last weekend. Jürgen Klopp felt that Jota had been cautioned even though he hadn’t touched Tottenham’s Destiny Udogie (via the Daily Mirror), but there’s no scope for an appeal when a player is dismissed for a second bookable offense.

Liverpool has now been hit with three bans this term after Virgil van Dijk’s enforced two-match absence in September, and it must be wary of the risk of a fourth.

Any player who accumulates five bookings in their team’s first 19 Premier League matches faces a one-match ban, and two have already fallen foul of this — Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon. Behind them, there are six players who are now one yellow away from the same fate, with Bissouma ironically among them.

Sixteen have received three yellow cards across the first seven match weeks, notably including Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister. The $45m (£35m/€40m) summer signing can only afford to pick up a maximum of one caution between in the 12 matches between his return to Brighton and the trip to Burnley, currently slated for Boxing Day.

On paper, that sounds doable, but it’s worth pointing that Mac Allister has been one of the most frequently penalized players in the division so far. Only four — Spurs’ Udogie (16), Wolves’ João Gomes, Luton’s Marvelous Nakamba and West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá — have committed more fouls than the Argentine’s 13.

Some of these have been tactical, as you would expect from a defensive midfielder (hence the inclusion of two in the list above), but there have always been too many mistimed challenges, and Mac Allister needs to start being more careful.

This is by no means a problem unique to Liverpool — the Premier League has clamped down on dissent and professional fouling this season, inevitably leading to more yellow cards — but Mac Allister could be a particularly big miss. The rule changes and the more stringent application is clearly having an impact.

Klopp doesn’t currently have another number six whom he truly trusts, though it still remains to be seen if shock signing Wataru Endō can earn that faith. There’s also a chance Mac Allister misses a big game, with Liverpool due to face Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal between now and Christmas.

Back in the 2019/20 season, Klopp benched his defensive midfield linchpin Fabinho for a trip to Aston Villa to ensure he was available for a clash with Man City the following weekend as he too faced a yellow card ban. The way it’s going, he might just have to take similar precautions with Mac Allister.