By Paul Robinson

4th Feb, 2023 | 1:00pm

Liverpool news: Pundit verdict on Fabinho being banned after BBC update

Paul Robinson has claimed Liverpool midfielder Fabinho could have been shown a straight red card against Brighton.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Spurs and England number one said the 29-year-old’s tackle on Evan Ferguson was “really nasty.”

Fabinho was shown a yellow card moments after coming onto the field in Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Brighton on Sunday (29 January).

The centre-midfielder caught Ferguson on the back of the achilles and the Brighton striker was forced off because of the challenge.

Referee David Coote did not deem the foul as worthy of a red card and VAR chose not to intervene.

As reported by the BBC (29 January), Referees’ body PGMOL have conceded Fabinho should have been sent off.

When asked by Football Insider for his assessment of the incident, Robinson said: “It was a really nasty challenge.

“Fabinho knew it as well. You could tell by his reaction. I think he thought he was in trouble.

“He could have easily been sent off for that on another day. It was one of those tackles that gets worse with every watch. Hopefully Ferguson is alright and there is not any lasting damage from it.

“I don’t think it was a black and white sending off though. It was one of those ones where VAR was always going to stick with the on-field decision.

“If the referee had given a red card VAR would not have overturned it but by the same token, VAR was not going to advise Fabinho should be sent off after the referee gave a yellow. We have seen a lot of those kind of incidents since VAR came in.”

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