Image Credits: Imago Images
Liverpool maintained their upturn in form with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over rock-bottom Wolves at Anfield on Saturday. The result moved the Reds back into the Premier League’s top four and extended their unbeaten run in the competition to six matches, their longest such sequence since April.
Arne Slot’s side will now look to build on that momentum as they continue a hectic festive schedule with a home clash against Leeds United on New Year’s Day. One subplot to monitor ahead of Thursday evening’s fixture is Ibrahima Konate’s disciplinary situation. The France international is walking a tightrope and risks a suspension after picking up bookings in successive recent games against Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.
Those cautions have taken Konate to four yellow cards in the Premier League this season, just one short of triggering an automatic one-match ban. However, the centre-back only needs to avoid a booking against Leeds to escape the immediate threat, as the five-booking threshold applies only within a team’s opening 19 league matches.
Under Premier League rules, players who accrue five yellow cards within their first 19 games receive a one-match suspension. The amnesty then shifts to a two-game ban for reaching 10 bookings inside 32 matches, and a three-match suspension for accumulating 15 cautions at any point in the campaign.
Should Konate be booked in Liverpool’s 19th league fixture of the season against Leeds, he would miss next Sunday’s trip to Fulham, potentially leaving Slot with a defensive headache. Joe Gomez’s fitness remains uncertain, Wataru Endo is unavailable, and Giovanni Leoni has already been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai have both already served one-match suspensions for reaching the five-booking mark this season, with the latter missing Saturday’s win over Wolves as a result.
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