The Suspension Tightrope – Gameweek 14

A trio of new protagonists toppled off the Suspension Tightrope over the weekend’s ten fixtures. Palace wide man Wilfried Zaha, West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob and Villa defender Ciaran Clark were the guilty parties, with all three set to miss Gameweek 15 as their clubs do not have midweek Capital One Cup fixtures to bail them out.

Zaha was booked for simulation just three minutes before scoring his first goal since the opening day of the season – he now misses the upcoming trip to Everton a week tomorrow. Yacob earned an 81st-minute yellow during the Baggies’ draw at West Ham, whilst Clark finally succumbed to the high wire with a fifth booking, more than two months after collecting a fourth yellow card in the Capital One Cup third round. The Villa centre-half was the second player in the top-flight to reach four cautions but had been hampered by fitness and selection issues ever since. He’s been named in all three of Remi Garde’s starting XIs, though, and will now miss the upcoming visit to Southampton.

Ryan Shawcross also received a one-match ban. The Stoke skipper collected two yellows in a five-minute spell either side of half-time for fouls on Steven Fletcher and Duncan Watmore as Mark Hughes’ men fell to a 2-0 defeat at Sunderland. He’ll miss the Capital One Cup Quarter Final against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek but will be available for next week’s tough home encounter with Man City.

Post-match, Hughes slammed the decision to send his captain packing as Stoke lost for just the second time since Gameweek 5:

“I think the referee didn’t show any common sense really and should have given Ryan the benefit of the doubt. Ryan feels he got a nick on the ball before the lads gone down so I’m disappointed from that point of view. The referee, on the day, didn’t perform as I’ve seen him perform before; unfortunately he got the awarding of the free kick that led to their first goal wrong as well. Those are the key moments in the game that change it and unfortunately they were negative for us.

Elsewhere in the same match, Erik Pieters joined Alex Tettey at the top of the Tightrope charts with his sixth booking – no Premier League player has more this season.

There were five new additions to this week’s Tightrope. Bournemouth’s Dan Gosling joined team-mate Matt Ritchie to double the number of Cherries on the wire. Stoke’s Charlie Adam picking up a fourth yellow for a crunching challenge on Lee Cattermole at the Stadium of Light, whilst Watford midfielder Etienne Capoue also saw yellow in yesterday’s fixtures.

Spurs defensive duo Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Walker joined them today, meaning that 18 players now sit just one caution shy of a single-match suspension. Mauricio Pochettino’s men have now received 33 bookings in the league this season – that’s more than any other side, with Liverpool (32) and West Brom (30) next in line. In the case of the first two in particular, their penchant for pressing opponents is clearly incurring the referees’ wrath.

Seven players will return from bans in time for Gameweek 15. Graziano Pelle, Lucas, Jonjo Shelvey, Chris Brunt, Robert Huth, Mark Noble and Dele Alli are available once again after falling off last week’s Tightrope, whilst James Collins comes back into contention for West Ham, having sat out a three-match ban.