This week sees the return of our Suspension Tightrope widget, which is now available in your right sidebars under the Watchlist rankings. For those of you less familiar, the Tightrope keeps a tally of cards accrued from Capital One Cup, FA Cup and Premier League matches and the table is updated after each Gameweek – we’ll aim to share the Fantasy implications of the latest yellows and reds collected as we go.
We’ll bring you news of all the latest suspensions, along with a regular update of the yellow card totals of the most regular perpetrators as they edge towards a domestic ban and climb onto the ‘Suspension Tightrope’.
Essentially, players have to avoid collecting five domestic bookings before New Year’s Day, when the Tightrope is extended to ten cautions. From a Fantasy perspective, Gameweek 19 – which takes place on December 28 – is the last round of fixtures to fret over, then.
Norwich’s midfield battler Alex Tettey is the first such protagonist of the 2015/16 season after earning his fourth caution in the first five Gameweeks. The Norway international incurred the referee’s wrath for a foul on Joshua King just 20 minutes into Saturday’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth.
Considering he was withdrawn in the season opener, Tettey is accumulating cards at a rapid rate – so far, he’s been booked every 108 minutes since the Canaries returned to the top-flight.
The chances of him collecting a fifth sometime soon seems almost inevitable, with a trip to Anfield next Sunday affording him a first opportunity to topple off the Tightrope.
Elsewhere, Liverpool’s budget left-back Joe Gomez, City central midfielder Fernandinho, Tettey’s Norwich team-mate Sebastien Bassong, Tottenham’s Erik Dier and Villa centre-half Ciaran Clark all remain on three yellows after avoiding cautions over the weekend. They’ve been joined by United’s summer signing Matteo Darmian and City centre-half Eliaquim Mangala, who were booked against Liverpool and Palace respectively.
In terms of new suspensions, Watford’s Valon Behrami was sent off for a reported stamp on Swansea’s Andre Ayew on Saturday. This earns the Swiss international a three-match ban, meaning he will miss upcoming league clashes with Newcastle, Palace and Bournemouth before returning to contention for the Gameweek 9 home encounter with Arsenal.
Behrami joins four other players on the sidelines through suspension. Stoke pair Ibrahim Afellay (second of two-match ban) and Charlie Adam (second of three-match suspension) miss the Potters’ home clash with Leicester. Newcastle’s Aleksandar Mitrovic and Watford defender Miguel Britos both sit out the second of three-match bans this weekend as their respective sides go head-to-head at St James’ Park.
Elsewhere, Philippe Coutinho and Steven Whittaker are both available for selection after serving out one-match bans in Gameweek 5. West Ham stopper Adrian will also come into contention – he completed a three-match suspension last night as the Hammers swept aside Newcastle at Upton Park.
