Liverpool's Javier Mascherano is shown a red card by the referee Lee Mason at Portsmouth, an offence that has landed the Argentina captain a four-match ban.
Liverpool have confirmed that Javier Mascherano will serve a four-match ban after his sending-off at Fratton Park. The Argentina captain was shown a straight red card by the referee Lee Mason and now faces a second suspension of the season.
Mascherano will miss the fixtures against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, the FA Cup third-round tie at Reading and the league match against Tottenham Hotspur on 10 January.
However, his participation in at least some of those games would have been in doubt anyway as he had to be helped off the field having been show the red card and is believed to have sustained medial knee-ligament damage.
The absence of the Argentinian, who was just starting to rediscover his form, will be a huge blow to the manager, Rafael BenÃtez.
It means the Liverpool manager must decide whether to drop Steven Gerrard back from his attacking role just behind Fernando Torres or play the £20m summer signing Alberto Aquilani, whom he has been holding back because of concerns about his fitness.
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