Suspension Tightrope – Sticky

At this time of season, that familiar swaying sensation can usually be blamed on excess and inebriation. Our featured players only have indiscipline to blame, however, as they lose their balance and topple off the Suspension Tightrope ahead of the weekend’s fixtures:

With four red cards and 30 more yellows, this was one of the busiest Gameweeks of the season in the disciplinary office. We’ve almost mustered a full XI of banned players heading into the Gameweek 19 fixtures, affording an anti- ‘Scout Picks’ for the next round of games – 10 players crow-barred into a pretty irregular 4-5-0 formation.

In goal, we have Tim Howard. The Everton stopper has risen to the top of the Fantasy Premier League goalkeeper rankings over the last few weeks and has attracted a number of new Fantasy suitors due to a favourable run of games. However, in bringing down Ki Sung-Yeung in the first half at Goodison Park, and subsequently conceding the match-winning penalty, Howard will now serve a one-match ban and miss the weekend visit of Southampton.

Across the defence, Wes Brown already occupies one of the spots. Thanks to his red card last week, he serves the second of a three-game suspension as Sunderland travel to Cardiff. Brown is partnered at centre back by Norwich’s Michael Turner, after a fifth yellow card means Chris Hughton will be without his services for the trip to Old Trafford.

Flanking this pair, we have Kyle Walker on the right. Another victim of the Tightrope, Walker picked up his caution for a foul on Liam Ridgewell and will join the man filling our left back slot, Marc Wilson, in missing out when Stoke arrive at White Hart Lane. Wilson’s absence, is due not to a yellow, however, but to a red card earned by denying a clear goalscoring opportunity away to Newcastle. He’ll still only miss the one game, though, as his concession of the penalty that rebooted Newcastle’s fortunes and consigned Stoke to play the whole second half with nine men was not violent, unlike the thrashing that followed at the hands of the Toon.

Moving in to midfield, we are spoilt for choice, as another five names pop on to the radar. Anchoring the midfield, we have a triumvirate of ball winners in Gareth Barry, Morgan Schneiderlin and Glenn Whelan. The first two have been much-lauded this season, so it’s unfortunate that both will be missing from the game that would see them match up directly as Southampton travel to Everton. In both cases a fifth yellow card deprives us of that battle. Meanwhile, Whelan went one better, bagging a pair of yellows inside 40 minutes at St James’ Park for fouls on Mousa Sissoko and Yohan Cabaye – he’ll join Wilson and Walker in alliteratively missing the alliterative Spurs/Stoke scrimmage on Sunday.

Finally, onto the flanks, where Antonio Valencia and Ramires reside. The United wide-man earned his place at lunchtime when he picked up a fifth booking of the season, and then again as the first booking was joined by a second and converted to red. Valencia was banned for the weekend through either card, but perversely in picking up a second yellow he has kept his cumulative yellow count at four, and now sits six cautions from a Tightrope ban (instead of five, had he not seen red). The case for Ramires is a little simpler – previously sitting on four bookings, he clattered into Wilfried Bony as Chelsea hung on to their 1-0 lead and will therefore miss the visit of Liverpool.

Continuing the (increasingly forced) theme, we also have some names to sit on the bench, after picking up their fourth cautions of the season on Thursday. Maynor Figueroa, Pablo Zabaleta and Adnan Januzaj are therefore the newest names on the Tightrope widget and need to survive a single game untarnished before the threshold for a ban is increased to ten yellows on New Year’s Day.