Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp told he should face up to '10-match ban' for red card against Man City

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp should be handed a ban of up to 10 matches for his red card against Manchester City, according to Chris Sutton.

Klopp was sent off in Sunday's 1-0 win for Liverpool at Anfield for berating assistant referee Gary Beswick when a foul was not given for a challenge on Mohamed Salah in the second half of the clash with Pep Guardiola's side.

Klopp later apologised for his reaction in his post-match comments.

"Something snapped in that situation, I'm not proud of that. I deserved a red card, and the way I looked in this moment is not right," he admitted.

Klopp was subsequently charged by the Football Association with a breach of FA rule E3, which covers "comments which are improper, which bring the game into disrepute, which are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting".

The incident came on the same weekend as Merseyside Youth League games were postponed because of ongoing issues with referee abuse.

Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, former Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers and Celtic striker Chris Sutton called on the FA to issue Klopp a harsh punishment as a deterrent for other managers.

"Klopp has since acknowledged he was in the wrong, which is all he can do. But if we want managers to stop behaving in this way, the onus is on the FA to make sure the punishments are enough of a deterrent," wrote Sutton.

Klopp was sent off against Manchester City on Sunday (Image: Alamy)

"Klopp will be on the touchline against West Ham tonight [Wednesday] and that's wrong. If we want to stamp out this sort of behaviour, immediate bans are a must.

"They should miss three games, six games, maybe even 10 if we truly want to drive home that this behaviour is unacceptable.

"We see managers speak after matches and hold back in their criticism — the classic Jose Mourinho: 'If I speak I'm in big trouble' — but they're less controlled when in their technical area.

"They are role models and need to remember that. If they forget, ban them. That'll soon instil it in their minds."

Sutton has called for Klopp to receive a harsh punishment (Image: Alamy)

Klopp, meanwhile, has reportedly made a legal complaint after being accused of xenophobia over comments he made about Manchester City ahead of Sunday's match.

In the build-up to the game, Klopp said Liverpool could not compete financially with City.

"There are three clubs [Gulf state-owned City, Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain] in world football who can do what they want financially," said Klopp. "It's legal and everything, fine, but they can do what they want."

Media reports quoting senior City sources suggested that Klopp's comments were felt to be "borderline xenophobic".

The Athletic have since reported that Klopp and Liverpool have made a legal complaint over those claims, with the German manager strongly refuting the suggestion his quotes were xenophobic.

Klopp apologised for his touchline behaviour after the match (Image: Alamy)

"I don't feel, in this specific case, I don't feel it at all. I know myself. And you cannot hit with something which is miles away from my personality. If I was – I cannot remember the word – like this I would hate it. I would hate myself for being like this," said Klopp.

"I have said a lot of times things that were a little bit open for misunderstanding. I know that.

"It was not intentional, just sometimes you say things and you think 'Oh my God! It can be interpreted like this!' but this is not one of these moments. Absolutely."

Topics: Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool, Football, Premier League, Manchester City

Rory O'Callaghan

Rory O'Callaghan is Editorial Lead at SPORTbible. He has previously worked for Sky Sports News, MailOnline and Reach covering football, cricket, boxing and MMA. Tested daily as a Liverpool fan in a Manchester office.

@rory_ocallaghan