Jurgen Klopp has admitted he was relieved to hear the news that Alexis Mac Allister’s harsh red card against Bournemouth had been overturned.
The decision means that the World Cup winner is now available for selection when Liverpool travel to St. James’ Park to face Newcastle on Sunday.
Our new No. 10 has impressed during preseason and on his first two Premier League appearances for the club and our German tactician was therefore delighted to find out the Argentine would not serve a suspension.
“Very good news. Massive [relief],” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com. “I was not sure after the game. When I saw the pictures back I was pretty sure that it’s not a red card but that doesn’t mean then immediately that our appeal will be successful.
“I think we could make the point really clear and the pictures were pretty clear as well. You don’t have that a lot of times that pretty much everybody agrees on [that] this is not a red card and should not be a red card. It’s a bit of a message early in the season as well. Yes, harsh tackles and stuff like this should always be punished, I absolutely support that 100 per cent. But it was not a harsh tackle, it was just a touch in the situation.
“How I said, it was for us on the day already tough enough to play then in the circumstances – around about 40 minutes with 10 men. We were obviously not prepared for that but we scored the third goal, which was very helpful. And then we had to fight through it. It was a massive relief when I heard that it is overturned.”
Liverpool will need to be at their absolute best if they’re to take anything from Sunday’s game in the north east.
Mac Allister’s availability is brilliant news for us but Klopp did confirmed in his press conference earlier this morning that Ibou Konate is a ‘doubt’ for the game after picking up a muscle injury.
Either Joel Matip or Joe Gomez are therefore expected to come into the side to replace our No. 5 and there’s no doubt that our players will have their work cut out against a Newcastle side who’ll want a reaction after losing to Manchester City last weekend.
The Toon Army will also be cautious of the talent in our squad, though, with frightening trio Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Mo Salah all finding the back of the net against Bournemouth last time out.
Having a talented and experienced big-game player like our No. 10 in the middle of the park will no doubt help our chances of picking up three points at St. James’ – we’ll just have to wait and see!
#Ep86 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️