Max Dowman: Arsenal's appeal against teenager's red card in Fleetwood Town defeat rejected

Arsenal have failed in their appeal against Max Dowman's red card in the defeat to League Two Fleetwood Town.

Dowman was dismissed in the second half for violent conduct after kicking out at Fleetwood's Harrison Neal following a heavy challenge, before Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties.

The 16-year-old will now miss Arsenal's next three domestic matches against Liverpool, Hull and Newcastle following the FA's decision to uphold the ban.

In a statement an FA spokesperson said an independent comission dismissed Arsenal's claims of "wronfgul dismissal and excessive punishment".

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Arsenal potentially threadbare out wide at Liverpool

Arsenal's rejected appeal means they are down to the bare bones out wide ahead of Sunday's huge Premier League match at Liverpool - live on Sky Sports.

As things stand, Eberechi Eze is the only fit senior option for Mikel Arteta to call on at Anfield unless Noni Madueke recovers from the ankle injury which kept him out of Tuesday's shock defeat.

Summer-signing Christos Tzolis, who picked up a hamstring injury in the last international break, is closing in on a return but it remains to be seen if he will be deemed fit enough to return against Liverpool.

Bukayo Saka, meanwhile, is facing weeks out with a quadricep injury he suffered in the 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich earlier this month.

If Tzolis and Madueke are not ready to face Liverpool, Arteta may be forced to call on youngster Ceadach O'Neill, who impressed in moments against Fleetwood, but is yet to feature in the Premier League.

Versatile Kai Havertz could also be called upon to fill in out wide if Arteta decides to favour experience.

It is a blow for Dowman, whose opportunities have been limited this season, as Arsenal's current injury issues could have opened the door for him to make his first Premier League start of the seaosn.

Manager Arteta has given the teenager two appearances off the bench in the league, and one in the Champions League this season.

Dowman has started both of Arsenal's Carabao Cup matches, scoring twice against Ipswich in the third round before being sent off against Fleetwood.

Sky Sports News understands Arteta spoke to Dowman at length in the build-up to Arsenal's game against Fleetwood and told him what to expect from the League Two side.

He was told they would put in strong challenges and they would double up on him and was told repeatedly not to react.

Merson's warning for Dowman

Former Arsenal star Paul Merson has warned "superstar" Dowman that he must learn to cope with teams targeting him.

"My worry is because at Arsenal, and when you play for one of the big clubs, you get told once or twice, and that is it. Once or twice tops," said the Sky Sports pundit.

"And he's been told again. Obviously, Arteta's told him. He got sent off the other week for England against the USA. He's going to get that the whole of his career.

"The kid's a superstar already at 16 years of age. He was the one reason I was looking forward to watching the game. I was thinking, 'Please Dowman play, please Dowman play'.

"He's going to have that all the time now. He's going to be kicked. People are going to look at the game now, and they're going to go, 'Right, we've got to upset him. Try and get inside him. Try and upset him'.

"And he's got to be better than that. He got frustrated, and it's not always going to be easy. It's not always going to be a nine out of 10 every week. Sometimes he's going to have to go to the nitty-gritty and be a six or seven out of 10. Get back for the team. Might do a couple of special things in a game.

"You can't keep on being a superstar every game. Everybody has bad games. When you have bad games, you've got to make sure it doesn't affect the team as well, and you don't get sent off."

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Max Dowman: Arsenal's appeal against teenager's red card in Fleetwood Town defeat rejected