Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso has been charged with violent conduct by the Football Association for a tackle on Shane Long in a 3-2 win at Southampton.
Alonso appeared to stand on the back of Long’s calf in the first half as his team trailed 2-0 on Saturday.
The Spaniard now faces missing the FA Cup semi-final against the same opponents at Wembley on Sunday if the charge is upheld.
He has until 18:00 BST on Wednesday to respond.
If he accepts the charge, the FA Cup semi-final tie would be the second of a three-game ban for the 27-year-old, with Chelsea playing at Burnley and Swansea in the league either side of that match.
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The FA has taken retrospective action after officials including referee Mike Dean failed to see the incident.
“It was a poor challenge – it should have been a red card in my view,” said Southampton manager Mark Hughes after his relegation-threatened side’s defeat.
“The disappointment was the officials didn’t see it. They were all within a 10 to 15 metre radius – one of them should have seen it.”
