Three Liverpool players are at risk of Champions League bans as the Reds move closer to progressing to the semi-finals tonight. Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenbirch were booked in last month’s Round of 16 match against Galatasaray, making them alongside Curtis Jones the two yellow cards in the competition this season.
This means the trio could be suspended for the quarter-final second leg if they receive a caution when Liverpool face Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes tonight. Conor Bradley also has two spots in the Champions League, but is out for the rest of the season after sustaining a knee injury in early January.
The competition rules state that any player who accumulates three yellow cards after the league stage, or receives an odd number of subsequent warnings, will be suspended from the next match. Respite will only be granted at the end of the quarter-finals when all yellow card totals have been wiped out.
Paris Saint-Germain also have two players with two yellow cards, with Nuno Mendes and Juvica Kvaratschelia both one more booking away from missing next week’s second leg at Anfield on Tuesday.
If Van Dijk misses the second leg, the most likely scenario is for Joe Gomez to join Ibrahima Konate in last place.
However, that would mean he would not be able to play at right-back against Manchester City in the FA Cup to counter the threat of Jeremy Doku.
This time he will face off against Ousmane Dembele, Desiree Douye, and Hviča Kvaratscheria.
And fellow right-back Jeremy Frimpong is back from injury of his own, with Liverpool likely favoring a team that expects them to dominate possession.
Losing Grabenwerch in midfield would be just as frustrating if he received another yellow card.
Substitute Wataru Endo is injured and his substitution would force either Alexis Mac Allister or Dominik Szoboszlai into a deeper role in Gravenbirch’s place, unless Curtis Jones is suspended.
