Crucial Chelsea player could now be banned as Blues set to be charged by FA, ‘no doubt about that’

Add as preferred source on Google

The situation at Chelsea is already pretty grim off the back of their defeat to Brighton, and now they could be about to lose one of their key players to suspension.

The Blues were defeated 3-1 at Stamford Bridge by the Seagulls after capitulating following Trevoh Chalobah’s red card when they led 1-0.

Chelsea fans started to turn on Enzo Maresca as the game played out, with them now losing successive Premier League games when going down to 10 men.

The final whistle saw Behdad Eghbali march to the dressing room to consult the players and staff, after what will go down as an embarrassing last few minutes.

Crucial Chelsea player could be banned after defeat to Brighton

As well as the collapse in the form of conceding goals, a number of Chelsea players were involved in a heated contribution as the game came to an end, with Moises Caicedo at the heart of things against his former side.

After being approached by Jan Paul van Hecke, the Ecuadorian seemed to strike him in the midriff, leaving the defender rolling around on the floor in pain.

While VAR didn’t act at the time, former referee Mark Halsey believes there could be retrospective action against Caicedo when the FA investigates the incident.

He told The Sun: “It appears there was an act of violent conduct on Caicedo’s part but, looking at the video, it does seem inconclusive. And VAR looked at the footage and felt the same that it was inconclusive. Now, the FA will investigate, they will look at it again.

“Both clubs will be charged with failing to control their players. there’s no doubt about that, but the FA will look at this and there may be retrospective action taken against Caicedo. But, as I say, looking at it, it does look as though it’s inconclusive.”

Chelsea cannot afford to lose Caicedo

As has been the case for the last 18 months, Caicedo is one of the most important players in a Chelsea side who are in desperate need to keep players fit.

With Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill definitely set to miss the next few games due to injury, Maresca cannot afford to lose the midfielder with the magnitude of their next Premier League fixture.

The Blues welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge in their next game, and face major unrest amongst supporters if they were to lose three consecutive Premier League games.

Caicedo will be one of the first names on the teamsheet against the side who were desperate to beat Chelsea to his signature, and it will need to be a trademark performance from him if they are to stand any chance of a result.