Reports confirm that the FA will take no action against Romelu Lukaku following an altercation with Brighton and Hove Albion’s Gaetan Bong in Saturday’s match.
The Manchester United striker appeared to kick out at the defender but will not face a charge or a suspension as a result.
Lukaku has suffered significant Fantasy Premier League sales of late, following returns of just a single goal in six Gameweeks, but he is still part of 45% of squads.
He is already the most sold player ahead of Tuesday’s 6.45pm Gameweek 14 deadline and that lack of form means that the market is unlikely to be affected too much by today’s news, with Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata the key benefactor as the exodus gathers momentum.
Elsewhere, there are some significant additions to the suspension tightrope in Gameweek 13 now confirmed by the FA.
Manchester City’s Leroy Sane is undoubtedly the big new arrival, having picked up his fourth booking of the season at Huddersfield Town on Sunday.
Sane was cautioned in an EFL Cup tie with West Brom earlier in the season to add to his three Premier League bookings; the German is now just a single caution away from a one-match ban.
He has to navigate the next seven Gameweeks without a yellow card in order to avoid a ban.
Similarly, team-mate Fernandinho is also on the brink, having gained his fourth booking at the John Smith’s Stadium.
With the Manchester derby looming, Pep Guardiola’s approach to the selection of these two players will be fascinating.
Both would seem likely to feature in the Gameweek 14 meeting with Southampton but, with West Ham to come before the United clash, Guardiola could show caution for that fixture.
Brighton pair Shane Duffy and Glenn Murray are also new arrivals. They will go into a “local derby” with Crystal Palace just one caution shy of a ban.
Both have proved popular targets of late are owned by a combined 300,000 FPL managers.
Huddersfield’s Rajiv van La Parra is now serving a three-match suspension following his straight red for the “exchange” with Sane and will sit out the next three Gameweek fixtures for the Terriers.
He joins Everton’s Oumar Niasse on the sidelines, with the Senegal striker serving out his two-match suspension in Wednesday’s home meeting with West Ham. He will return for a Gameweek 15 with Huddersfield.
The Suspension Tightrope widget keeps a tally of cards accumulated from all domestic matches across the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Premier League. It is available under the Watchlist rankings in your right sidebars or via the slide-in menu on mobile and tablet.
It currently shows those players one booking away from a one-match ban.
Just a reminder that players must avoid five yellow cards over their respective team’s first 19 Premier League matches in order to avoid a suspension. Similarly, they must steer clear of 10 cautions over their side’s 32 opening top-flight matches to prevent a ban.
For Fantasy managers, this means that Gameweek 19 – on December 23 – is currently the curfew for five yellow cards. Players, therefore, have seven matches yet to play before the threshold moves to 10 yellow cards.
6 years, 5 months agoPerfect midweek round of fixtures for Lukaku troll mode hat trick?
Im considering captaining him. Against all judgement.