Liverpool will be without midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai against West Ham United on Sunday after the Hungarian international picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the Reds 3-1 victory over Leicester City at Anfield.
The midfielder had been left out of the starting line-up on Merseyside after playing a key role in last weekend’s 6-3 win over Tottenham Hotspur in North London. With the midfielder on four yellow cards, manager Arne Slot opted to rest the player in order to reduce the risk of suspension. However, he came on as a late substitute and was penalised shortly after his introduction for a tactical foul and booked. The Reds secured victory after goals from Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah saw off the Foxes, who took an early lead through ex-Crystal Palace and Aston Villa forward Andre Ayew.
A Liverpool statement confirmed: “Dominik Szoboszlai will be suspended for Liverpool’s Premier League clash with West Ham United on Sunday evening. The Hungarian received his fifth yellow card of the top-flight campaign during the Boxing Day victory over Leicester City at Anfield. Accumulating five bookings within the opening 19 fixtures of the season incurs an automatic one-match ban, which Szoboszlai will serve when the Reds visit London Stadium this weekend.”
Aston Villa also dealt pre-West Ham blow
Aston Villa will be without Jhon Duran for next month’s FA Cup third-round clash against the Hammers after he was sent off for serious foul play against Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar. The Premier League Match Centre on X confirmed: “The referee issued a red card to Durán for violent conduct. The VAR checked and confirmed the referee’s call.”
The Premier League website has confirmed the striker will serve a three-game ban, missing two upcoming Premier League fixtures before completing his suspension by sitting out the contest with West Ham. Red card bans are carried over into cup competitions while an accumulation of yellow cards is competition specific. Newcastle went on to secure a 3-0 win over Villa. Elsewhere, West Ham beat Southampton 1-0 to sit just two points outside the top half while they are six points away from Bournemouth in sixth and the Europa Conference League qualification spot.
Emery rants over VAR after Duran red
Villa boss Unai Emery was far from pleased with the officials after his side’s defeat at St James’ Park and confirmed the club plan to appeal the decision. Duran did step on Schar as the Newcastle defender went to the ground but Emery argued the contact was not intentional. He said when asked if thought the incident was a red card: “For me, not. For me, not. It was completely not. I can accept maybe the other team asking for a red card, okay. But VAR please, and confirm it because the punishment now is three matches.
“His reaction after with the player over him was ‘sorry, sorry’. Then we can try to analyse if he kicked him or not. I think he didn’t kick him on purpose. Of course we are going to appeal and hopefully it’s not three matches because it’s a very big punishment for this action.”
