- Curtis Jones serves the first match of a three-game suspension, leaving Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp with a selection dilemma
- Klopp may consider Wataru End or Ryan Gravenberch as replacements, with potential changes in midfield roles to accommodate Jones’ absence
Jürgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool, is in a quandary ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Brighton, as Curtis Jones serves the first game of a three-match suspension.
Jones was sent off in the first half of Liverpool’s loss to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend after a VAR review of his challenge on Yves Bissouma.
Referee Simon Hooper initially issued him a yellow card, but after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, he upgraded it to a red.
Liverpool appealed after a red card for Alexis MacAllister against Bournemouth was overturned earlier in the season, but the suspension was upheld.
Jones has started the last four league games for Liverpool, but Klopp may now have to turn to Wataru End or Ryan Gravenberch, who arrived in the summer.
Gravenberch would take over as Jones’ left-sided number eight, while End would take over as Mac Allister’s holding midfielder, allowing the Argentine to move higher up the pitch.
Doping: Pogba risks four-year ban after second positive test
Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba’s ‘B’ sample has confirmed the presence of testosterone, a source close to the case told AFP on Friday.
The 30-year-old former Manchester United player, a World Cup winner in 2018, faces a ban of up to four years.
The original test by the Italian anti-doping agency (Nado) showed the presence of testosterone metabolites.
On Friday, Pogba learned that the analysis of his B sample, carried out on the previous day, had produced the same result.
The player’s entourage declined to comment.
Under the World Anti-Doping Code, Pogba is liable to a four-year suspension, which could be halved if he proves he was not at fault.
The ban could even be limited to a few months if the use of the substance took place “out of competition and is not related to his level of performance”.
Pogba’s representatives said last month that the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the United States.
Testosterone promotes muscle development.
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