Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp may still be holding out for an unlikely replay with Tottenham, but at least the club as a whole can now move on from any more potential punishments with the FA reportedly deciding against taking any action against Alexis Mac Allister for his social media post after the match. It was a game where everything appeared to go against Liverpool as both Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were shown red card while the main issue arose from Luis Diaz’s wrongfully disallowed goal.
To add insult to injury, Liverpool were punished a fourth time just days later as they were slapped with a £25,000 fine for ‘ill discipline’. Liverpool received a total of eight cards in the defeat to Tottenham, including assistant manager Peter Krawietz.
There were some concerns that more punishments could be dished out after Mac Allister appeared to take aim at the officiating of the match on social media. Cristian Romero had put up a celebratory post from Tottenham’s win on social media, captioning it: “This team has great spirit, great heart. Always like this, all together.”
Mac Allister responded in the comments, writing: “Normal when you have 12 players.” He’s since deleted his risky remark, but questions were being asked on whether the FA would take further action.
By questioning the integrity of a Premier League referee, Mac Allister risked breaching FA Rule E3.1, which state a “charge of formal warning” could be issued if any social media post “imply bias, attack their integrity, are personally offensive, prolonged, or particularly unreasonable”. But This Is Anfield claim the FA have decided against taking the matter further to the relief of Liverpool.
Mac Allister will be expected to start against his former side this weekend as Liverpool take on Brighton. With Jones unavailable due to suspension, and both Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic still recovering from injury, Klopp has a chance to start all three of his major midfield signings together for the first time this season.
Mac Allister and Dominik Szboszlai have already established themselves as regulars for Klopp in the Premier League. But Ryan Gravenberch may have played himself into making his first league start for the Reds.
The Dutchman joined Liverpool on deadline day, meaning he needed more time to get up to full speed at Anfield. He’s been limited to starts in the cup competitions, but the 21-year-old got his first goal in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday.
Mac Allister could be in line to play as the No 6 in Liverpool’s midfield with Gravenberch and Szoboszlai operating further forward.
