Liverpool-bound Naby Keita sent off yet again during RB Leipzig's defeat to Bayern Munich

Liverpool supporters and Jurgen Klopp can be forgiven for harbouring growing concerns over the on-field temperament of future arrival Naby Keita after the box-to-box midfielder was dismissed for the third time in the span of just seven matches for club and country on Wednesday night (25 October).

The Guinea international, who will move to Anfield on 1 July 2018 for a fee that could eventually reach €70m (£62.5m, $82.7m), received a second caution in the 53rd minute of RB Leipzig's DFB-Pokal second round clash with Bayern Munich for pulling back Robert Lewandowski.

That was the latest act of indiscretion from Keita, who also received a straight red card for a high boot on Christoph Kramer during the latter stages of a 2-2 Bundesliga draw with Borussia Monchengladbach on 16 September.

The subsequent three-match suspension ruled him out of matches against Augsburg, Eintracht Frankfurt and Cologne.

Two weeks later, the highly-rated 22-year-old gave Guinea the lead in their penultimate 2018 World Cup qualifier against Tunisia in Conakry but was later handed his marching orders in second-half stoppage time for lashing out at Etoile du Sahe midfielder Mohamed Ben Amor after the visitors had notched four times in reply.

Leipzig head coach Ralph Hasenhuttl leapt to the defence of Keita after his latest early exit, claiming that he was harshly dealt with on the night by referee Felix Zwayer. The contest ended as a 1-1 draw after Thiago Alcantara's effort quickly cancelled out an Emil Forsberg penalty, with Sven Ulreich saving Timo Werner's spot-kick in the subsequent penalty shootout as the visitors eventually prevailed.

"I think Naby Keita got two yellow cards for two fouls. In my opinion, Naby got a yellow card for every first foul," said Hasenhuttl. "Before he gets the first yellow he was fouled dozens of times. In these situations I miss the equality of rights, but that was not the decisive scene of the game."

Keita was not sent off once during his first season at Leipzig, accumulating eight yellow cards. He was also never previously dismissed during his two-year spell with Red Bull Salzburg, although did receive two yellows in one outing for first club FC Istres.

Discussing Liverpool-bound Keita earlier this week, sporting director Ralf Rangnick described the player as among the best he had worked with over the past two decades and explained that Leipzig's self-imposed salary cap was the key reason why they could not hope to keep him for the long term.

"It would be ten times better for me to have him with us for another five years, but that is simply not possible," he told German sports magazine Kicker. "With us, it is just not possible to pay salaries in the double-digit million range."