Liverpool handed selection boost as key starter for Tottenham is banned for seven games

Tottenham Hotspur are set to be without Rodrigo Bentancur for their clash with Liverpool in December after he was given a seven-game ban.

The midfielder was under investigation for comments he made relating to team-mate Son Heung-min. In fact, he was charged in September by the FA with an alleged breach of Football Association (FA) rules over the comments made.

He was forced to apologise after saying, in a quote translated from Spanish, that South Korea international Son and his cousins “all look the same” on television programme Por la Camiseta, which is broadcast in his native Uruguay. It was feared that he could potentially miss up to seven games. Those would include Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool while they also face Manchester United in a Carabao Cup quarter-final in December.

And now it has been confirmed that Bentancur has been handed a seven-game ban and a £100,000 fine by the English Football Association (FA) for using abusive language and bringing the game into disrepute. He will still be allowed to compete in the Europa League but he will miss seven games of domestic football.

The translation of Bentancur’s comment on the Spurs club captain reads as: “Sonny, or a cousin of Sonny, they all look the same”. He later issued an apology to Son on social media while also doing so privately.

“Sonny, brother! I am sorry for what happened, it was a joke in bad taste,” Bentancur wrote. “You know that I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone. I love you brother!”

Liverpool face Tottenham on December 22 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League, a stadium at which they suffered one of their four defeats in the league last season. With Arne Slot’s side gunning for the title after a brilliant early start, this game stands as a critical moment across the hectic winter schedule - and one that will be made slightly easier in the Uruguayan’s absence.