REPORT : Four Liverpool players now face disciplinary threat and could be banned for Manchester United

Four Liverpool players now face disciplinary threat and could be banned for Manchester United

Liverpool still have a number of players at risk of serving a suspension with Dominik Szoboslzai the latest Reds star to be issued with a one-match ban

Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister before the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James’ Park(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Liverpool have seen a number of players fall on the wrong side of officials in recent weeks and have to serve one-match bans as a result. The Reds’ trip to West Ham United on Sunday will mark the fourth time from their last six matches where they have enforced absentees because of suspension.

Alexis Mac Allister sat out both Liverpool’s Champions League trip to Girona and Premier League clash with Fulham after being issued with his third European yellow card and fifth in the English top-flight against Real Madrid and Newcastle United respectively.

Andy Robertson would then be shown a straight red card for denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity against the Cottagers, and miss the Reds’ League Cup trip to Southampton as a result.

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Arne Slot would also serve a one-match touchline ban against the Saints after being issued with his third yellow card of the season.

And now, when Liverpool travel to the London Stadium on Sunday, they will do so without Dominik Szoboszlai after he was shown his fifth yellow card of the Premier League season against Leicester City on Boxing Day.

As we near the halfway point in the English top-flight, it is not uncommon to see players serve one-game bans after accruing five cautions.

Players who are shown five bookings inside the opening 19 Premier League games are handed an automatic one-match ban. The amnesty then changes to a two-match suspension for reaching 10 bookings inside 32 games, and a three-game ban for totalling 15 at any point in the campaign.

In truth, it was rare for a Liverpool player to fall on the wrong side of such laws under Jurgen Klopp, with the Reds predominantly finding themselves near the top, if not atop, of the Premier League’s Fair Play table under the German’s stewardship.

Under Slot, having been served with 39 yellow cards and one red card, Liverpool are instead mid-table. And boasting a game-in-hand on the rest of the Premier League, they still have two matches to navigate before the yellow card amnesty changes.

Consequently, when they travel to West Ham without Szoboszlai, a number of players find themselves treading a disciplinary tight-rope that could see them suspended for the visit of Manchester United to Anfield on January 5.

Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Ryan Gravenberch have already all reached four bookings and will need to be on their best behaviour against the Hammers as a result. Ibrahima Konate has also received four yellow cards to date, but he has been ruled out of Sunday’s game because of injury.

Should the Frenchman return for the Reds’ clash with Manchester United, he would need to avoid a booking to prevent a suspension of his own. Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold has currently been shown three cautions and is at risk of serving his own one-match ban if cautioned against both West Ham and the Red Devils.

If the aforementioned players all avoid a fifth booking over the next two games, they along with both Mac Allister and Szoboszlai, will need to stay clear of reaching 10 yellow cards come the end of their 32nd league match if they are to not serve a two-game suspension.

Elsewhere, Robertson has been shown two yellow cards in the Premier League so far this season, while eight players have been booked just once.

Slot has previously admitted his bemusement at the number of cards his side has been shown, insisting they do not make many fouls.

Speaking ahead of the postponed Merseyside derby at the start of the month, he said: “The downside to it is, I think, these players hardly make any fouls and Ryan is also one card away from being suspended so that is something for us to be aware

“How is that possible because we hardly make any fouls. Mac Allister, the one against Newcastle, you could argue if you saw all the decisions that they made afterwards it is so correct that he got a yellow for that.

“But you know during a season that players will be suspended and it is always in moments you think you could have used him.”