The Suspension Tightrope – Gameweek 11

The Suspension Tightrope doubled in size after an incident-packed Gameweek 11 brought a host of players closer to an automatic one-match ban. Whilst last week’s seven incumbents managed to steer clear of the referee’s wrath and remain on four yellows, they were joined by a further seven players, with Diego Costa the most notable new entry, after the Chelsea striker kept up his remarkable record of being booked in every away appearance in the league so far.

Having missed back-to-back road trips to Palace and Man United over Gameweeks 8-9, Costa’s caution during Saturday’s 2-1 win at Liverpool added to cards accrued at Burnley, Everton and Man City, and given his ability to rack up the yellows on his travels, a ban looks imminent.

Joining Costa on four bookings after their weekend indiscretions are Andreas Weimann, Liam Moore, Richard Dunne, Morgan Schneiderlin and Swansea defensive duo Neil Taylor and Ashley Williams, compounding Garry Monk’s worries at the back, with the likes of Jordi Amat and Federico Fernandez both missing the 2-1 win over Arsenal through injury.

Costa’s caution means that the two most popular players in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game are in danger of toppling off the Tightrope. The 56%-owned Chelsea striker joins team-mate Cesc Fabregas (sitting in 53% of teams), whilst Southampton’s top scorer Graziano Pelle is another asset with big ownership sailing close to the wind.

In terms of newly banned players, Tottenham’s Kyle Naughton is set to face a two-match suspension after earning his second dismissal of the season last weekend. The right-back was sent packing during Sunday’s 2-1 home loss to Stoke after bringing down Victor Moses as the last man, with the Potters winger bearing down on goal. Naughton misses a trip to Hull and home clash with Everton and returns just in time for a Gameweek 14 trip to Chelsea, but with Kyle Walker set to return to first-team training next week, Naughton’s pitch time now looks at major risk.

Unsurprisingly, Tottenham’s decision to appeal Naughton’s ban was rejected by the FA yesterday, after an independent regulatory commission ruled he was guilty of denying Moses a goalscoring opportunity.

Naughton is one of three players suspended for Gameweek 12 duties. QPR defender Rio Ferdinand serves the last of a three-match ban away to Newcastle for his recent Twitter comments, whilst Villa’s Christian Benteke skips the second of a three-match suspension for violent conduct and misses upcoming clashes with Southampton and Burnley.

Arsenal’s Calum Chambers continued his recent ill-disciplined form, and earned a sixth yellow card in just eight Premier League starts for the north London outfit, earning his owners zero points in Sunday’s away loss to Swansea.

Finally, as many as five players return from one-match suspensions in time for Gameweek 12. Both Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole and West Brom’s Craig Gardner toppled off the tightrope in Gameweek 10 and, having sat out the previous round of fixtures, are back in contention for matches against Leicester and Chelsea respectively.

Chris Smalling is available for United’s trip to Arsenal, Palace midfielder and spot-kick taker Mile Jedinak is in the frame as Neil Warnock’s side host Liverpool, whilst Jonjo Shelvey returns for Swansea’s testing trip to the Etihad.