Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté is edging closer to a potential suspension as the Premier League’s yellow-card deadline looms large. The French centre-back goes into the New Year’s Day clash against Leeds United knowing that one more booking could cost him dearly.
Konaté has already picked up yellow cards in recent matches against Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur, taking his total to four for the league season. That leaves him just one caution away from triggering an automatic one-match ban.
Premier League rules state that any player who collects five yellow cards within their first 19 league appearances will be suspended for one game. If Konaté avoids a booking against Leeds, he will escape the immediate danger, as the threshold resets after that point. Later in the season, harsher punishments apply — 10 bookings inside 32 matches result in a two-game ban, while 15 cautions at any stage lead to a three-match suspension.
Should Konaté be booked against Leeds, he would miss Liverpool’s upcoming away trip to Fulham. That scenario could create selection issues for head coach Arne Slot, especially with Joe Gomez carrying fitness concerns, Wataru Endo unavailable, and Giovanni Leoni already ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
Elsewhere in the squad, both Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai have already served one-match suspensions after reaching the five-bookings mark, with Szoboszlai sitting out the recent home victory over Wolves.
Bradley, alongside Curtis Jones, is also flirting with danger in the Champions League. Both players have been booked twice in the competition so far. Under UEFA regulations, a suspension is triggered at three yellow cards, and then again at every second booking thereafter.
Unlike the Premier League, European yellow cards are not wiped until after the quarter-final stage, meaning Bradley and Jones could carry their cautions through several more matches if Liverpool progress deep into the tournament.
For now, all eyes will be on Konaté — one mistimed challenge could force Liverpool into an unwanted reshuffle at the back.
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