When Liverpool travels to Brighton to play in the Premier League this weekend, five first-team players will be absent due to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota’s suspensions.
Curtis Jones’ appeal against receiving a red card against Tottenham was denied, which has caused Joggen Klopp to face a difficult selection situation.
In Saturday’s violent 2-1 Premier League loss for Liverpool, Jones received a red card. Following a VAR intervention in the 26th minute, the Liverpool midfielder’s original yellow card for a challenge on Yves Bissouma was changed to a red.
Liverpool appealed against the decision, but found out on Tuesday that their case has been rejected, meaning Jones will now serve a three-match ban in the Premier League. While he could feature against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday, he is unavailable for the trip to play Brighton on Sunday.
Diogo Jota is also suspended for the Seagulls game, having also been sent off against Spurs. Jota picked up two yellow cards in as many minutes in the second half in north London to leave Liverpool with nine men
He will now serve a one-match suspension, meaning he will be able to return for the Merseyside Derby on October 21. Jones will miss that game, as well as the Premier League game against Nottingham Forest on October 29, before being eligible to return against Luton on November 5.
The two suspensions are major blows for Klopp, who also has injuries to contend with. Cody Gakpo went down injured in first-half stoppage time at Spurs and was substituted at half-time. He was later seen limping and wearing a brace and Klopp was gutted to lose him.
He said: “The biggest problem of the game, to be honest… before Cody Gakpo scored, we got a free-kick and he got injured and he is now with a brace limping down the corridor. That’s my biggest problem, to be honest, in this moment. We lost two [to red cards] and maybe a third player – really bad, really bad. So, yes, that’s something we have to deal with obviously.”
If a severe injury, he said, “Perhaps, I don’t know. He was braced. Even though he had just scored, he still felt the impact of that shot. It came from the earlier foul.
The injured teammates Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago Alcantara are both absent for Liverpool. Liverpool is taking care not to worsen the little calf issue that Bajcetic has since returning from a long-term injury.
