Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang picked up a red card and a three-game suspension against Crystal Palace on Saturday, but Arsenal can still appeal.

aubameyang red card v palace
LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 11: Referee Paul Tierney shows a red card to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal. Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal FC at Selhurst Park on January 11, 2020, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Paul Tierney showed Aubameyang a straight red against Palace, incurring a three-match suspension. There are two ways to appeal a red card, either categorising it as ‘wrongful dismissal’ or ‘clearly excessive’.

Realistically, Arsenal have no chance with the former. The contact is there to see, VAR gave the card, another review panel are unlikely to decide it wasn’t the right decision.

Still, Arsenal can argue the standard punishment for a straight red card is clearly excessive in this case. Aubameyang will still serve a minimum one-game suspension. However, if the appeal succeeded, they could bring it down from the current three-game ban.

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are waiting on the referee’s report and details of the charge before making a decision on this matter.

The argument they could make is that there wasn’t any aggression or intensity behind the foul. Aubameyang simply caught Max Meyer late, and unfortunately right on the ankle. A few milliseconds earlier, that’s where the ball was.

It was a bad tackle that went wrong, not a foul with any violence behind it. If that’s still worthy of a three-game ban, fair enough, though many Arsenal fans will point to an arguably worse foul on Matteo Guendouzi against Norwich that only saw yellow.

Depending on the reasoning the FA give for the suspension, it does seem worth an appeal. For the record, Arsenal’s next three games are against Sheffield United, Chelsea and Bournemouth.