Liverpool Echo

Rodrigo Bentancur will miss seven matches after making racist remarks about Spurs teammate Son Heung-min.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur will not be available for next month's Premier League clash with Liverpool after being handed a seven-match ban for using a racial slur about teammate Son Heung-min. He has also been fined £100,000.

During an interview this summer, the Uruguay international was asked by a native reporter to get hold of a Tottenham shirt. Bentancur replied: "Sonny's? It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same."

The 27-year-old later apologised for his comments, describing them as a "very bad joke”. The Football Association has now handed him a lengthy suspension and ordered him to take part in a mandatory in-person education programme.

The ban will only apply in domestic competitions, meaning Bentancur is allowed to play in Tottenham’s Europa League games. Liverpool’s visit to Spurs on December 22, their last match before Christmas, will be the final fixture he is banned for.

The FA released a statement amidst the sanction. It said: “An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and £100,000 fine on Rodrigo Bentancur for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview.

“It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute. It was further alleged that this constitutes an “aggravated breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference – whether express or implied – to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.

“Rodrigo Bentancur denied this charge, but the independent Regulatory Commission found it to be proven and imposed his sanctions following a hearing. Its written reasons for these decisions can be seen below."

Tottenham have the opportunity to appeal the sanction. Bentancur has faced Liverpool three times across his career and has failed to come out on the winning side on each occasion.

He has been a regular in Ange Postecoglou’s team this season, featuring in all but one of the club’s 11 Premier League games so far.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned for seven matches, which includes Liverpool's visit to North London in December

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a blow with Rodrigo Bentancur handed a seven-match ban by the Football Association. The midfielder is therefore set to miss Liverpool's away match against Ange Postecoglou's side next month.

Liverpool have several fixtures both domestic and in Europe to attend to before they can consider preparing for their visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. At least now they have been given an early hint as who is unable to line up for their hosts.

The FA have intervened with this lengthy ban after an investigation opened earlier this year. Bentancur was charged with an 'aggravated breach' of the governing body's rules over comments actually made in Spanish on Uruguayan TV about Spurs team-mate Son Heung-min.

His host asked him for a Spurs player's shirt, to which the midfielder replied: "Sonny's? It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same."

This immediately landed him in hot water back in England and the repercussions have just only now been settled. Bentancur is due to be ruled out of his club's next seven domestic matches, therefore including the Reds' next Premier League meeting with Spurs on December 22.

This is actually the last of the seven he will miss, handing Liverpool this advantage by the finest of margins.

Whilst still a fair way from this clash, he becomes the sixth Spurs player simultaneously sidelined at present. Micky van de Ven, Timo Werner, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert have all been absent in recent weeks whilst teenager Mikey Moore was recently ill.

I have never worn Daniel Levy Tottenham gift from before Liverpool final - who does such a thing?

Hugo Lloris has opened up on Tottenham's Champions League final against Liverpool in 2019

Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Hugo Lloris has admitted he was stunned by a gift given to each of the Spurs players by Deny Levy before the 2019 Champions League final with Liverpool. The two teams met in Madrid in the European Cup climax.

Goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi gave the Reds a memorable victory. The 2-0 success crowned Liverpool as kings of the continent for a sixth time.

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For Tottenham it was their first-ever Champions League final and in his new autobiography Earning my Spurs, Lloris has revealed that the occasion may have got to some figures at the club, most notably the divisive chairman Levy, per the Guardian.

"We do all have one engraved memory, though," he said. "Four days before the final, Daniel Levy called us all together to announce that, with the support of a sponsor, we would each receive a luxury aviator watch from the club. At first, we were excited to see the elegant boxes.

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"Then we opened them and discovered that he’d had the back of each timepiece engraved with the player’s name and ‘Champions League Finalist 2019’. ‘Finalist’. Who does such a thing at a moment like this? I still haven’t got over it, and I’m not alone. If we’d won, he wouldn’t have asked for the watches back to have ‘Winner’ engraved instead.

"I have considerable respect and esteem for the man and all he has done for the club as chairman – I got to know him – but there are things he is simply not sensitive to. As magnificent as the watch is, I have never worn it. I would have preferred there to be nothing on it. With an engraving like that, Levy couldn’t have been surprised if we had been 1–0 down after a couple of minutes: so it was written."

Lloris has also shared his frustration at the officiating in the final. Liverpool were awarded a penalty early on after Sadio Mane's attempted cross clattered into Moussa Sissoko's body from close range and then onto his arm.

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The French goalkeeper has suggested the final was "snatched" from Tottenham as a result and noted the change in guidelines over the award of penalties that followed soon after.

"From 2 June 2019, a change in the rules meant that a penalty would no longer follow if the ball struck a player’s hand after touching another part of their body," said Lloris. "The final took place on 1 June 2019, and something which wouldn’t have been an offence the following day sealed the fate of the final before it had really begun.

"Liverpool contented themselves with putting on a robust defence. As for us, we could only try our luck and dare a little in our play during the last 20 minutes. It was not a great final.

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"I’m not sure we understood that this was perhaps the only chance in our career to win the Champions League; that the club we played for was not one that was programmed to win it; that we could have avoided ever hearing again the complaint that Tottenham never won anything; that our names might have been engraved in the club’s history forevermore. This is what that penalty took from us."

Lloris spent 12 years at Spurs between 2012 and 2024, where he cemented his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in world football.

While silverware escaped him at Tottenham, he won the 2018 World Cup with France and earned 145 caps for his country - more than any player for the men's team - before his international retirement in 2023.

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Lloris, now 37, plays for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer.

Man City's current injury crisis has left them with 13 fit senior players - with a number facing a race against time to be fit to face Liverpool next month

Man City face an injury crisis as they look to retain top spot in the Premier League table ahead of Liverpool this weekend. After his side’s League Cup exit to Tottenham Hotspur in midweek, Pep Guardiola declared he had only 13 fit players.

City were handed a number of fresh injury blows in the clash with Spurs as Manuel Akanji withdrew from the starting XI, Savinho was stretchered off, Ruben Dias was replaced at half-time and Josko Gvardiol received treatment after the game.

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“Tomorrow we have two 'keepers and Erling Haaland for a training session and we don't have anything else," Guardiola said after losing to Tottenham. "We are 13 players. We are in real difficulty but we have to make the effort.

“The guys who played, most finished with problems and we will see how they recover. I think when we are in trouble like we are - because in nine years I have never had this many injuries for this many reasons - in these situations, the players make a step forward, they are more together than ever and we will try to do this week in a short time for recovery.

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"[Savinho] had a knock in the 18-yard box for a potential penalty and we will see tomorrow what happened. We have to see just a knock, or maybe something else. It was in the bone. Hopefully it is nothing dangerous but we will see tomorrow.

"Akanji yesterday in the last action felt something muscular in the meniscus and today in the warm-up he didn't feel good. He said he could take a risk but I said no. Ruben is struggling sometimes as well. It's been getting more difficult game by game but maybe one day we will be all together."

According to Premier Injuries, City are currently without nine first team players, with only Ipswich Town suffering more absentees in the English top-flight. However, such a total does not include the ‘struggling’ Dias.

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Admittedly, the likes of Akanji and Gvardiol could be passed fit in time to travel to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday. But City are still set to be without a considerable number of players until at least after the November international break.

As a result, a number of Guardiola’s players could be doubts for their visit to Liverpool on December 1.

After travelling to Bournemouth this weekend, City face away trips to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday and Brighton & Hove Albion next weekend prior to the international break.

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Upon club football’s return later this month, they host Tottenham Hotspur on November 23 and Feyenoord on November 26 ahead of their trip to Anfield on December 1.

Rodri has been ruled out for the season with an ACL injury, while Oscar Bobb is not expected to return from injury until at least January, with the two long-term absentees certain to miss the trip to Liverpool as a result.

Meanwhile, Guardiola has already confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker won’t return until after the international break. Jeremy Doku is also not expected back from injury until after the break, with the quartet facing a race against the clock to return and prove their fitness ahead of their top-of-the-table clash with the Reds.

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Elsewhere, City are waiting to find out the severity of Savinho’s ankle injury after he was stretchered off against Tottenham.

While Guardiola’s walking wounded have time on their hands to return ahead of trip to Anfield, he will be hoping that City’s injury crisis does not get any worse before it starts to get better. The Spaniard is set to offer an injury update when he faces the media on Friday ahead of his side's trip to Bournemouth.

I was close to signing for Everton - but David Moyes only invited my team-mate to his house

Kyle Walker has revealed he was close to signing for the Blues before his move to Tottenham Hotspur

Kyle Walker said he almost signed for Everton but turned the club down because another transfer target was given preferential treatment. Walker said the Blues were close to securing him as clubs fought to take him from Sheffield United back in 2009, when he was 19.

But when fellow Blades talent Kyle Naughton was invited to the home of then boss David Moyes - and Walker was not - he opted to pursue the interest shown in him by Tottenham Hotspur. In the end, both Walker and Naughton - who Everton agreed a fee with Sheffield United for - joined Spurs.

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Speaking on his BBC podcast, You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker, Walker told his guest - former Everton captain Phil Jagielka: “I was close to signing for Everton before I signed for Tottenham. Just to let you know.”

At the time Naughton, then 20, was considered the bigger talent of the two having made 50 senior appearances across the defence and midfield.

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Walker continued: “Naughts went to his house. Naughts went to Moyes’ house and he never invited me. So I went down… to Tottenham and I was like, OK, they like me more, so I signed for Tottenham.”

Walker went on to become an integral part of the England set up while with Spurs before moving to Manchester City. There, he has clocked up six Premier League titles and two FA Cups alongside multiple other trophies. He was part of the Champions League winning side that included former Everton defender John Stones and Erling Haaland - another player Everton once looked at.

The tale of Walker and Naughton echoes that told by Arsenal’s FA-Cup hero Aaron Ramsey on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football this week. Now back at boyhood club Cardiff City, the midfielder spoke of how he too visited Moyes’ home before opting to sign for the Gunners as clubs battled to take him from south Wales.

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Mohammed Kudus was shown a straight red card for West Ham in their 4-1 defeat to Tottenham at the weekend and the forward is now set to miss the clash with Everton

West Ham United star striker Mohammed Kudus will be absent from the upcoming match against Everton, following a straight red card in the loss to Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday. Kudus had initially put the Hammers ahead with a close-range goal in the first half, but Spurs equalised before half-time through Dejan Kulusevski and then dominated the second half.

Yves Bissouma, an own goal by Alphonse Areola, and a strike from Son Heung-min saw the visitors crumble before the 60-minute mark. As tensions escalated at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Kudus was sent off just before stoppage time for a foul on Micky van de Ven, which escalated into a scuffle near the centre circle.

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Initially, referee Andy Madley issued a yellow card, but after a VAR review, it was upgraded to a red. This turn of events could prove advantageous for Sean Dyche's team as they prepare to face West Ham next weekend.

Kudus is facing a three-match Premier League suspension due to a violent conduct dismissal. The 24-year-old will not only miss the Everton match, but also the preceding fixtures against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.

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After Saturday's match with Ipswich Town, Everton face Fulham next weekend before the visit of Southampton seven days later. Today's clash with Ipswich was delayed due to IT issues, with kick-off pushed back 15 minutes.

West Ham started the day three points above Everton in the Premier League table, as both sides grapple with patchy early season form.

Jamie Carragher couldn't help but poke fun at Manchester United after Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur

Jamie Carragher has poked fun at Gary Neville's early season prediction that Manchester United would finish above Liverpool - following the Red Devils' 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

In their first Premier League outing at Old Trafford since the 3-0 defeat to Arne Slot's side earlier this month, United endured another humiliating afternoon as goals from Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solake sealed a historic win for Spurs to mount the pressure on Erik ten Hag.

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Neville, on co-commentary duty for Sky Sports, pulled no punches when assessing United, labelling their third defeat of the Premier League season as "disgraceful". And Carragher couldn't help but bask in the downfall of United with a cheeky social media post immediately after the game.

Taking to X, Liverpool legend Carragher retweeted a Sky Sports graphic from the start of the season where Neville had predicted that United would finish above Liverpool.

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On the first Monday Night Show of the season, the former United and England full-back predicted Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea to finish in the top four, insisting Liverpool would suffer a slump in form as a result of Jurgen Klopp's departure. Carragher, meanwhile, had the Reds down to finish third, behind Manchester City and Arsenal.

It's fair to say that Neville's prediction hasn't aged well, with Liverpool's 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday night moving them to the top of the Premier League, eight points ahead of United after just six games.

Latest Liverpool news and gossip as an ex-coach has claimed that a former Tottenham defender is 'better' than Reds captain Virgil van Dijk

A former coach has explained why he believes ex-Tottenham Hotspur star Davinson Sanchez is "better" than Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. Servet Cetin, a former centre-back for Turkey, has claimed that Van Dijk is not as good a defender as Sanchez.

Van Dijk is into his seventh full season with Liverpool and second since being named Reds captain following Jordan Henderson's departure. The 33-year-old's contract at Anfield has been the subject of speculation with the current contract set to expire at the end of the season.

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Sanchez, meanwhile, is enjoying his second season at Galatasaray after signing for the Super Lig club from Tottenham in 2023. During his time with Spurs, Sanchez made 207 appearances but was an unused substitute against Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final in Madrid.

Servet, a former centre-back who made 59 appearances for Turkey, has made a claim about Van Dijk. The 43-year-old, who was most recently a coach with Super Lig club Sivasspor, has explained why he believes Sanchez is "better" than the Liverpool captain.

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''I think Sanchez is a better stopper than Van Dijk. In England, stoppers play regionally, they do not change their positions," Cetin told Ajannsspor.

"They do not enter the level of right back or left back. They constantly take positions in the centre. They usually play slowly. They intercept the ball in the centre because they are physically good. But they struggle when they have to open up.

"Van Dijk had a hard time against Baris Alper Yilmaz in the Turkey-Netherlands national match [at Euro 2024]. However, Sanchez is both in one game. He has a level, plays in a wider area and does not let anyone pass. He does a much more difficult job. He goes out with the ball very well.

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Ange Postecoglou has started to struggle at Spurs in recent weeks

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou is odds-on to be sacked before Christmas - with his Celtic successor Brendan Rodgers favourite to replace him in north London.

The Aussie is coming under increasing pressure at Spurs after a shaky start to the season which included defeat to Arsenal in last week's derby and they scraped through in the EFL Cup with a late show against Championship outfit Coventry City. Postecoglou moved to the English Premier League outfit from Parkhead at the start of last season with Rodgers returning to the east end of Glasgow for a second stint at the Hoops in a controversial move.

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Rodgers won the double and has made a flying start to his second season and is tipped for a third stint in the English Premier League having previously managed Swansea City, Liverpool and Leicester City.

The sportscasting.com/uk traders are making him 8/11 to be gone by Christmas and even shorter (2/5) to not last the season.

The oddsmakers are also pricing up Rodgers as the favourite to take over at 5/1 - a man that's been rumoured for the Spurs top job many times before - with former England man Gareth Southgate not ruled out either at just 7/1. Spokesman Andy Newton said: "The new Premier League season is only a handful of games in but already there is mounting pressure on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou after a very average start."

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"Postecoglou had promised big things over his second season at the North London club, but he's already on the back foot with just one league win so far and with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy no stranger to culling his managers, I'm not surprised to see Ange odds-on to be gone by Christmas. If so, there has been a lot of talk about Brendan Rodgers joining Spurs in the past and they could finally get their man - if, of course, the compensation to Celtic is enough to let their highest ever paid manager leave the Scottish giants."

ANGE POSTECOGLOU ODDS SPECIALS

To be sacked or quit before Xmas :

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Yes 8/11

No 11/10

To be sacked or quit before the end of the season:

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Yes 2/5

No 2/1

Ange Postecoglou Next Job

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Leicester 4/1

Southampton 9/2

Everton 5/1

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Wolves 7/1

Man Utd 8/1

Crystal Palace 9/1

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Next Spurs Manager

Brendan Rodgers 5/1

Thomas Tuchel 11/2

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Gareth Southgate 7/1

Graham Potter 7/1

Maurizio Sarri 8/1

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Xavi 9/1

Our manager broke down in tears after Liverpool thrashing and sacking - I cried too

Kyle Walker has recalled how Andre Villas-Boas and the Tottenham Hotspur squad were left in tears after being thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool

Kyle Walker has recalled how one heavy defeat to Liverpool once left him and his team-mates in tears after it resulted in an unwanted managerial sacking. Manchester Man City captain was still at Tottenham Hotspur when he was on the wrong side of a 5-0 loss at White Hart Lane in December 2013.

Luis Suarez scored twice for Brendan Rodgers’ side that day as further goals from Jordan Henderson, Jon Flanagan and Raheem Sterling clinched the most emphatic of victories in North London.

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Spurs finished the match with 10 men after Paulinho was sent off just after the hour mark with the score still at 2-0. And the defeat would prove to be the final nail in the coffin for manager Andre Villas-Boas.

While the win left Liverpool second in the Premier League table, Tottenham were down in seventh - eight points behind leaders Arsenal - as they continued to struggle after selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.

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The defeat was the club's worst at White Hart Lane in 16 years. And while Spurs had been on a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions prior to losing to the Reds, the pressure had still been building on the Portuguese, having also lost 6-0 away at Man City just three weeks earlier and won just one of their last six home matches.

Villas-Boas was sacked by Tottenham on December 16 - less than 24 hours after the final whistle at White Hart Lane.

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And recalling how the Spurs squad found out about their manager’s dismissal, Walker revealed that Villas-Boas burst into tears when addressing the squad, with the England international then one of a number of players who also started crying.

“He was just so, so nice. He was so nice and sometimes I think that probably killed him,” he admitted on his BBC podcast, ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker’. “He was too nice.

“I can remember when he left, and I will never forget it, I swear to you, I will never, ever forget it. We were sat in the auditorium and we got wind that he was going.

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“(Daniel) Levy sacked him but he was still in the building and we were still ready to train. He came downstairs and started crying in front of us, he started crying in front of us.

“And I remember his assistant was telling him to pull it together. He started crying, I’ve got tears running down my eyes.

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“A lot of the lads had tears, Michael Dawson is welling, he’s just like he can’t stop crying. He’s emotionally crying, because that is how much he meant to the lads.

“Now we probably didn’t do him justice on the pitch because that’s why he got the sack, but for 10-12 men to be crying because the manager has gone, he has done something well in the dressing room.

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“Football aside, he’s emotionally connected with us as well. As a team, we probably let him down a bit.”