Tomas Soucek will be suspended for West Ham United’s visit to Arsenal in October, after picking up a straight red card this weekend.
Following Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, West Ham United took on Tottenham Hotspur in the 17:30 kick-off on Saturday. Though West Ham were rarely on top, it was a close game until Tomas Soucek gave Spurs a huge boost in the 54th minute.
Soucek went studs-up into a challenge on Joao Palhinha, connecting with the Spurs midfielder halfway up his leg and tearing his opponent’s sock. The Czech international failed to make contact with the ball, and referee Jarred Gillett didn’t hesitate to brandish a red card.
West Ham went on to lose 3-0, but the sending off will have implications for their coming games as well.
Given the red was for serious foul play, Soucek faces a three-game ban. The Hammers have Premier League fixtures coming up at home to Crystal Palace, away to Everton, and away to Arsenal over the next few weeks.
If West Ham were still in the League Cup, Soucek would have served one of the games of his suspension in that competition. But after a 3-2 defeat to Wolves in the second round, that won’t be possible.
As a result, Soucek won’t play for his club again until after the October international break.
In spite of a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest before the September break, West Ham have made a poor start to the season. They’ve lost three of four league games in addition to that early League Cup exit.
The team sit 18th in the Premier League table, and manager Graham Potter now has to deal with the loss of a starter for the coming fixtures.