Tottenham captain Cristian Romero charged by FA after heated confrontation with referee in Liverpool defeat

Following a quiet opening to the fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the hosts were soon reduced to 10 men when Xavi Simons received a red card for raking his studs down the back of Virgil van Dijk’s calf.

Spurs manager Thomas Frank took aim with the Video Assistant Referee’s (VAR) decision to upgrade Simons’ initial yellow card to a red after the full-time whistle, saying "the game is gone."

Liverpool were then incensed when Alexander Isak suffered a fractured leg following a challenge by Micky van de Ven after putting his side in front after 56 minutes. 

Reds head coach Arne Slot later described Van de Ven’s tackle as "reckless", with Sweden striker Isak having subsequently been ruled out for a couple of months through injury.

Tottenham centre-back Van de Ven has since revealed he texted Isak to apologise for the challenge, saying he had no intention of injuring him.

"I didn't want to do something to hurt him of course,” the Netherlands international told Sky Sports. "I just wanted to try to block the shot. I think it was a bit unlucky how his foot landed between my legs. So I sent him a text afterwards and I wanted to wish him all the best for his recovery.

"I hope to see him on the pitch very soon again. He really appreciated the message and texted back."

And in what turned out to be an eventful evening for Spurs centre-back Romero, the 27-year-old received his first yellow card for dissent after remonstrating with referee John Brooks over what he perceived to be a foul on himself by Hugo Ekitike, who headed Liverpool into a two-goal lead.

While Tottenham showed great amounts of courage as they tried to get back into the game with ten players, they were soon reduced to nine when Romero was booked again for aiming a kick at Liverpool’s Konate.

Former Atalanta and Juventus ace Romero protested angrily once again, before reluctantly heading down the tunnel as Spurs huffed and puffed for an all-important equaliser, but they were ultimately left to wonder what might have been against Liverpool.

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And following his dismissal, Romero has now been charged by the FA, with Tottenham’s No. 17 having until Friday, 2 January to respond.

In a statement on Christmas Eve, English football’s governing body said: "Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian Romero has been charged following their Premier League match against Liverpool on Saturday 20 December. It’s alleged that he acted in an improper manner by failing to promptly leave the field of play and/or behaving in a confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the match referee after being sent off in the 93rd minute."

Romero and Simons will both serve their respective suspensions when Tottenham travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, in what will be their final fixture of 2025 before the trip to Brentford on New Year’s Day.

Meanwhile, Liverpool entertain winless Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, before they play host to in-form Leeds United on 1 January.

When asked if he has spoken to Romero following his red card against Liverpool, Spurs boss Frank said ahead of the Palace game: "Many times, of course. After this game, and not only because it's Cristian, I spoke to the players in general. We can put the label on him as a captain, but all players need to have a cool head and lead by example. You cannot have only one leader on the pitch but I know he's the one with the armband. We're talking about a very passionate player.

"When he is at his absolute top he carries teams on his back like he did the Europa League final. Without him we would not have won the trophy. Like he did away to Newcastle, like he's done many times. When you're very passionate, sometimes you can maybe lack that extra coolness sometimes. It's something he's working on."