Liverpool to appeal red card shown to Curtis Jones in Tottenham loss

Liverpool will appeal the red card picked up by Curtis Jones in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur.

Jones was sent off in the 26th minute with the score still at 0-0 for a high challenge on Spurs midfielder Yves Bissouma.

The 22-year-old received a booking at first from referee Simon Hooper before VAR Darren England sent him to the pitch-side monitor to review the incident again.

After deliberation, Hooper changed his mind and showed Jones a red card. The replay of the foul was shown back on the big screens at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with home fans voicing their disgust at Jones’ challenge.

Jones is in line to miss matches against Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton and Nottingham Forest through suspension, but the BBC report that Liverpool will appeal the red card and hope to have him available for selection for Sunday’s trip to the Amex Stadium.

Jurgen Klopp claimed after Saturday’s defeat that he did not think Jones’ challenge on Bissouma was deserving of a red card.

“Probably everybody here in the room thinks it’s a clear red card, I see that different, just because I played football and most of you probably didn’t,” he said in a post-match press conference.

“Full power on the ball, rolls over the ball, then hits the decisive part of the leg. When you see it in slow motion it looks horrendous. I think when you see it in real time it’s not even close to being that bad. Curtis didn’t do it not even close to being on purpose.

“The game is in real time but we judge it in slow motion – that makes now not too much sense.”

Liverpool were reduced to nine men in the second half when Diogo Jota picked up two bookings in quick succession for fouls on Tottenham left-back Destiny Udogie. This decision cannot be appealed as yellow card offences cannot be overturned.

The match has been the subject of controversy due to the decision to disallow Luis Diaz’s goal for offside minutes after Jones had been dismissed, with miscommunication between referee Hooper and VAR England being blamed for the error.

In a furious statement on Sunday night, Liverpool said they were exploring options available to them.