There were no new victims over the weekend, and no red cards either, but the Suspension Tightrope sleeps for no man, and, after a flurry of cards, it duly snapped up a glut of unwilling funambulists to head into Gameweek 8.
Villa’s Ciaran Clark, Sunderland centre-half Seb Coates and Leicester left-back Jeffrey Schlupp all survived the week unscathed, though the former pair’s causes were helped by the fact they were both unused subs for respective clashes with Liverpool and Man United.
That trio were joined by four new protagonists, who all picked up their fourth cautions of the season in the Gameweek 7 match ups.
The first couple were served up in an action-packed lunchtime clash at White Hart Lane, as Spurs overcame table toppers City with an energetic display that saw five of their front six players booked once they took the lead in the second-half. Goalscorer Eric Dier and his centre midfield partner Dele Alli took their tallies to four for the season for fouls on Fernandinho and Patrick Roberts respectively. Dier has already been drafted in by over 42,000 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers since the weekend, making him the fourth more sought-after player of the Gameweek.
Next to don the soft shoes and prepare for an acrobatic stint was Sunderland’s Billy Jones. The right-back is no stranger to these parts, with eight bookings in two of the last three seasons, and at least four cards in all of the last five years, despite his failure to secure a regular role at West Brom or Sunderland in that time. Jones scythed down Memphis Depay to earn himself a first taste of the ’15/16 Tightrope.
Finally, the seventh of the current crop of Tightrope walkers – and perhaps one of the most familiar faces of recent times – was Newcastle’s Jack Colback. The combative midfielder joined the party after a first-half booking picked up for a foul on Loic Remy. Fortunately for Jack, injury interrupted his second-half, so he’ll have to wait until at least next week to see if he can add to his growing collection of cards.
True fans of the Tightrope will be more than aware of Colback’s “previous”. Nurtured under the wing of Lee Cattermole at Sunderland, the ginger-haired battler learned quickly from his mentor, picking up a single card in his debut season, upgrading that to three bookings the next term, then five in ’12/13 and seven in his final season with Cattermole on Wearside. A switch to neighbours Newcastle saw Colback blossom into a full-scale disciplinary menace and, in ’14/15, he duly upped his output to 12 cautions – a total bettered only by former team-mate Cattermole (14) last time out. Four cards in just under 650 minutes this season is no surprise, and puts him high on the list of those expected to fall into a ban in his next outing.
Below those players, there are 16 faces currently sitting on three yellows. Branislav Ivanovic, Jose Fonte, Oriol Romeu, Jonjo Shelvey, Yohan Cabaye and Erik Lamela are the new names, having collected a third caution of the campaign over the last two days.
There are no newly-suspended players so far this week, with only tomorrow’s Hawthorns clash between West Brom and Everton remaining.
Arsenal’s Gabriel is available for selection again, having served a one-match ban in yesterday’s 5-2 win at Leicester. Three players still remain suspended for Gameweek 8. Diego Costa, Kevin Mirallas and Valon Behrami all serve the last of three-bans against Southampton, Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively.
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