Arne Slot sweating on touchline ban length after accepting FA charge | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Arne Slot is sweating on the length of a touchline that will be imposed by the FA following his red card in the recent fiery-tempered Merseyside derby.

Slot was shown red by referee Michael Oliver after the final whistle of the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park, as was assistant coach Sipke Hulshoff. It came as Curtis Jones reacted to Abdoulaye Doucoure's post-match celebrations, which saw both players also sent off, sparking a wider brawl.

Reports on Thursday afternoon confirmed that Slot has accepted an FA charge over his conduct. Now, the matter will be considered by an independent regulatory commission to determine how long the Dutchman will be banished to the stands for. The Premier League initially the jumped the gun by announcing a two-match ban, only to subsequently delete the update.

Since the red card at Goodison, Slot has remained on the touchline for subsequent Liverpool games against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa, with no room to breathe in the schedule but requiring time for him to respond to the charge and the necessary protocols be set up.

Slot was in the stands for a game in December / Dan Mullan/GettyImages

Some Reds fans on social media have already cried an anti-Liverpool conspiracy that there would be just enough of a delay in the process to ensure Slot would have to sit in the stands for more challenging fixtures against Manchester City and Newcastle United, rather than Wolves and Villa.

Slot has already served a one-game touchline ban so far this season, sitting out the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Southampton in December. That sanction was for an accumulation of yellow cards for his conduct in the technical area during the first half of the season. With that ban already under his belt, Slot could be more harshly punished in this instance as aa repeat offender.

Liverpool moved eight points clear of Arsenal in the Premier League title race on Wednesday night, but it was an opportunity missed because they have now played a game more than the Gunners and were unable to claim the victory that would have made the gap a statement ten points.

Having also dropped points in the derby, Liverpool face Arsenal being able to cut into their lead and potentially reduce it to a much more palatable five points when the Carabao Cup final is played next month, by which time both sides could have also dropped more points.