FA ban could mean Chelsea miss half their outfield starters for Liverpool clash | OneFootball

Chelsea are still sweating on the status of Nicolas Jackson after footage from Stamford Bridge yesterday clearly showed the striker slapping Nottingham Forest defender Morato in the face during a touchline brawl on the sidelines late in the game.

It had not been a wild match at all – in fact if anything it was a rather quiet and sleepy first half. But towards the end things started to escalate as James Ward-Prowse was sent off for a second yellow and Chelsea started to push for a winner with the home crowd urging them on.

The brawl came when Marc Cucurella was deliberately tripped off the ball, causing him to tumble into his own manager on the sidelines by Neco Williams. Jackson was one of the players who rushed from the bench to defend his manager.

The melee was eventually sorted out with a few yellow cards, but nobody at the time spotted Jackson’s rather more serious offence. Now, according to the Evening Standard, Chelsea await retrospective action from the FA towards their striker.

Chelsea and Nottingham Forest players brawl. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Chelsea could lose half their established first team

It would not be a good moment to have a player banned. Our next game after the international break is against Liverpool at Anfield, and we already will miss Cucurella and Wesley Fofana to suspension after they were booked today.

Noni Madueke and Levi Colwill also left the pitch injured late in the game. Enzo Maresca played down their problems, but combining their potential absence with Fofana, Cucurella and Jackson, we could see a majorly weakened team head off to play one of the tougher games of the season.

In his presser after the game Maresca defended the conduct of his player – but when you combine it with last year’s endless issues in the same aspect, it’s pretty frustrating.