One Liverpool player has learned of his punishment after being involved in a large-scale fracas a few weeks ago.
On the night that Uruguay’s Copa America dreams were ended by Colombia in the semi-finals in early July, Darwin Nunez was seen confronting a group of spectators who descended threateningly on the area of the stadium where the Urugyayan players’ families were seated.
As reported by South American outlet Pases Uruguay, the Reds forward has been given a five-match ban by CONMEBOL over his actions that night, in addition to a fine of $20,000 (£15,000). Four of his teammates have also received suspensions and fines, but of less severity than the 25-year-old.
In communicating the news via X, David Lynch clarified that Nunez’s suspension will only apply to international fixtures, so his involvement with Liverpool is unaffected.
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While the five-game ban is undoubtedly a blow in a personal sense for Nunez, it could well be construed as good news for Liverpool.
Uruguay have two sets of World Cup qualifying double headers coming up in September and October for which the 25-year-old won’t be available, so instead of doing four transatlantic trips in the autumn, he’ll be able to remain on Merseyside and get himself primed for our first game after those couple of international breaks.
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His fellow attackers at Anfield will almost certainly be away with their countries at that time, with Luis Diaz travelling to South America, so Arne Slot will surely be delighted that his number 9 won’t be jetting off.
By the time the latter of those international windows comes around, Liverpool will have had seven matches in 22 days (including the start of the newly-expanded Champions League), so we could end up being massively grateful for Nunez having a breather ahead of our clash against Chelsea on 19 October.
That added freshness could enable him to come to the fore for the Reds during the autumn and hopefully enjoy the kind of scoring streak which’ll finally hush some of his unrelenting critics.
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