Jurgen Klopp is having a selection headache after Curtis Jones failed to appeal his red card in the match against Tottenham.
Jones was sent off in the incident-filled 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday. The Liverpool midfielder received his first yellow card for fouling Yves Bissouma, which turned red after VAR intervened in the 26th minute.
Liverpool appealed the decision but learned on Tuesday that their case had been dismissed, meaning Jones will be banned for three Premier League games. Although he could play against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday, he will not be available for the trip to Brighton on Sunday.
Diogo Jota was also suspended for the Seagulls match and was also sent off against Spurs. Jota received two yellow cards in as many minutes in the second half in north London, leaving Liverpool with nine men.
He will now be suspended for one match, meaning he could return for the Merseyside Derby on October 21. Jones will miss that match, as well as the Premier League match against Nottingham Forest on November 29, before being eligible again against Luton on November 5.
The two suspensions are a big blow to Klopp, who is also recovering from an injury. Cody Gakpo was injured in first-half stoppage time at Spurs and was substituted at half-time. He was later seen limping and wearing a brace, and Klopp was heartbroken to lose him.
He said, “Honestly, the biggest problem of the match... before Cody Gakpo scored, we got a free kick and he got injured, and now he's limping twice on the road. That's my biggest problem, honestly, right? Currently.
Gakpo got injured in the first half of Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Tottenham
We lost two [to red cards] and maybe a third player—really bad, really bad. So that's obviously something we have to address.” Asked if it was a serious injury, he added, "Maybe, I don't know. He scored a double. He scored a goal, but then, after the shot, he felt even more pain. It was because of his previous mistake."
Liverpool is also missing Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago Alcantara due to injuries. Bajcetic has returned from a long-term injury but has a minor calf problem, which Liverpool are being careful not to aggravate.
“We are trying everything to get him up to speed without pushing him,” Klopp said. "We made a very specific plan for him, but in the end, of course, it disappointed him, but for us, he had a different plan.
So we had to drop him He's out for a bit. He can do almost everything else except play. That's it, I would say.