Liverpool without five players for trip to Brighton after defeat by Spurs.
Liverpool will be without five first-team stars for this weekend’s Premier League trip to Brighton after the suspensions of Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were confirmed.
Jurgen Klopp previews the Tottenham Hotspur game
Jurgen Klopp has a painful selection headache after Curtis Jones lost an appeal against his red card against Tottenham.
Jones made his Premier League debut in an eventful 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday. The Liverpool midfielder saw his first yellow card for a challenge when Yves Bissouma was shown red after a VAR intervention in the 26th minute. Liverpool appealed the decision but learned on Tuesday that their case had been dismissed, meaning Jones now faces a three-match Premier League ban. Although he could play against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday, he will not be able to face 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 second-half minutes in north London and left Liverpool with nine men. He is now serving a one-match ban, meaning he could return for the Merseyside derby on October 21. Jones will miss both that game and the Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest on the 29th. in October before he is allowed to return. Against Luton on 5 November. The two bans are also a big blow for injured Klopp. Cody Gakpo went down injured during Spurs’ first-half stoppage time and was replaced at halftime. He was later seen limping and wearing braces and Klopp had 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 now he’s limping around the hall. This is honestly my biggest problem right now. We lost two [to red cards] and maybe a third player – very bad, very bad. So yes, that’s something we obviously have to deal with.”
Destiny Udogie fouls Liverpool’s Dutch forward No.18 Cody Gakpo. Cody Gakpo is injured for Liverpool
Asked if it was a bad injury, he added: “Maybe, I don’t know. He was wearing braces. He scored, but after, but after that shot, he felt it even more. It was due to an earlier mistake.”
Liverpool are also missing the injured Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago Alcantara. Bajcetic is back from a long-term injury but has a minor calf problem which Liverpool are worried about aggravating.
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“We will do everything we can to get him without pushing him,” Klopp said. – We make a very precise plan for him, but at the end of the day, of course, it disappoints him, as well as us, that he got another one. So we have to draw him out a little bit. He can work on almost anything else, but not play. That’s it, I’d say.”
Thiago remains sidelined with a long-term hip problem that has kept him out all season so far. Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this link for your daily Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions and promotions from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can always check out. If you are curious, you can read our privacy notice.