Striker for Arsenal cup opponent faces lengthy biting ban | OneFootball

Arsenal’s upcoming League Cup opponents Preston North End are in trouble after the FA charged striker Milutin Osmajic with biting an opponent.

PRESTON, ENGLAND: Owen Beck confronts Preston’s Milutin Osmajic about an alleged bite from the Preston player during the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End FC and Blackburn Rovers FC at Deepdale on September 22, 2024. (Photo by Gary Oakley/Getty Images)

Sky Sports News report that the FA have charged Preston North End striker Milutin Osmajic with biting an opponent during Sunday’s draw with Blackburn Rovers.

Osmajic appeared to bite Owen Beck after the on-loan Liverpool 22-year-old kicked out at a Preston player. Beck was sent off, but Osmajic was only yellow carded, despite Beck highlighting what seemed to be bite marks on his neck.

PRESTON, ENGLAND: Owen Beck protests with referee Matt Donohue before being sent off about an alleged bite from Preston’s Milutin Osmajic during the Sky Bet Championship match between Preston North End FC and Blackburn Rovers FC at Deepdale on September 22, 2024. (Photo by Gary Oakley/Getty Images)

This all could be relevant to Arsenal, as the Gunners are set to face Preston in the next round of the League Cup. Wednesday’s draw pitted Mikel Arteta’s side against Preston away from home, with the game to take place at the end of October.

Luis Suarez was previously handed a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, before later receiving a four-month ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini.

The initial 10-match ban is likely the benchmark for an incident like this, given that was what Suarez got for his first offence.

LONDON, ENGLAND: Luis Suarez of Liverpool reacts during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Emirates Stadium on November 2, 2013. Picture: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images.

Preston have six fixtures before they face Arsenal, but Osmajic has until 30th September to respond to the charge, so he won’t start to serve a suspension until after this weekend’s game away to Millwall at the earliest.

So with just five games to serve a potential ban before Arsenal visit, anything close to a 10-game suspension would rule the striker out of the contest.

These kinds of suspensions do carry across domestic competitions, unlike bans for accumulations of yellow cards.

Osmajic had scored three goals in the first three rounds of the League Cup, as well as scoring twice in the penalty shootout against Fulham to reach this stage.