Liverpool Appeal Sadio Mané Suspension

Liverpool winger Sadio Mané is set to miss every domestic match the club play in the month of September, but there are hopes that an appeal will be successful and that the three-match punishment will be reduced by a game or two, allowing Mané to at least face Leicester City in the league on the 23rd.

Following a high boot to Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, Mané saw red on Saturday—and Liverpool fell apart, in the end losing a lopsided contest 5-0 despite a promising start to the afternoon. The violent conduct red carried with it an automatic suspension for a further three games, a fact confirmed by the FA today.

Following that confirmation, Liverpool have decided to challenge the length of the suspension—but not the suspension itself or the red card—in the hopes of seeing the punishment reduced by one or two games. This is despite the fact that Jürgen Klopp said an appeal would be unlikely after the match.

"It would be another waste of time, like the game today,” Klopp noted following the heavy defeat on Sunday, the manager acknowledging that the FA have a history of upholding red cards and their attendant punishments regardless of the situation or aby facts a club might believe are in their favour.

"I think everyone knows he didn't see the goalie. There was not one second he looks at the goalie, he just wanted to get the ball as soon as possible. He is very, very upset. He was shocked about the situation and I am sure also about the decision."

With Liverpool not appealing the underlying red card itself, it appears certain that Mané will at the very least miss the match against Burnley in the league on the 16th. Following that, Liverpool play Leicester City twice—first in the League Cup and then in the league.

On either side of that three game domestic stretch, Liverpool play a pair of Champions League ties, against Sevilla and Spartak Moscow—for which Mané is eligible to play.