Sunderland defender Papy Djilobodji has been charged with violent conduct by the Football Association for an incident involving West Brom’s Darren Fletcher on Saturday.
The Senegalese’s arm appeared to make contact with Fletcher’s face in the 86th minute of his side’s 2-0 defeat.
The incident was not seen by the match officials but was caught on video.
The FA said Djilobodji, 28, has until 18:00 GMT on Tuesday to reply to the charge.
As the former Chelsea player has been sent off once already this season – against Hull on 19 November – he would face a four-match ban if found guilty.
He would miss the home game against Tottenham on 31 January followed by Crystal Palace (away), Southampton (home) and Everton (away).
Sunderland are already without fellow centre-back Lamina Kone, who is away with Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ivory Coast will qualify for the quarter-finals in Gabon should they beat Morocco in their final group game on Tuesday.
Djilobodji who began his career with hometown team ASC Saloum made his senior debut in the 2007–08 season.
After two successful seasons in the Senegal Premier League, he transferred to French club US Sénart-Moissy in October 2009.
He played a good first half of the 2009–10 season in the Championnat de France amateur 2, which led to him being bought by Nantes on 27 December 2009.
On 14 May 2010, Djilobodji made his debut for FC Nantes in a 3–1 Ligue 2 defeat against eventual champions Caen.
He went on to play 171 times for the French club scoring nine times for the Ligue 1 side between 2010 and 2015.
He then signed for Premier League champions Chelsea on a four-year contract in a fee believed to be £4 million.
He made his only one appearance for Chelsea in the third round of the League Cup away to Walsall, replacing Radamel Falcao in added time at the end of a 4–1 victory.
