Vincent Kompany will face a touchline ban for Burnley’s upcoming match against Arsenal this weekend, having received his third yellow card of the season.
The Burnley manager picked up the yellow card during his team’s visit to Anfield last weekend, leading to a one-match suspension that will be served against Arsenal on Saturday.
Having already received two yellow cards earlier in the campaign, Kompany’s third during the Liverpool match surpassed the limit, resulting in his ban. Additionally, Jurgen Klopp had also received a yellow earlier in the match, leading Kompany to believe that the referee was attempting to balance the decisions.
Kompany explained to talkSPORT: “I think I got booked because I should have paid attention to the fact that Jurgen Klopp got booked because then all I think the referee did was just went looking for me. I opened my arms out, which I have done exactly that in many games.
“I should have known it was just a way to balance it out and it doesn’t make sense, but hey, we have to keep going.”
If indeed the referee intended to balance things out, one could argue that he ended up achieving the opposite effect.
In addition to Klopp receiving a yellow card, Kompany’s booking means that one of Liverpool’s title contenders will have to face Burnley without their manager. Mikel Arteta has encountered touchline bans before, experiencing one earlier this season, so he’ll likely empathise with the situation facing his counterpart this weekend.