While on the subject of the “Suspension Tightrope” – we might well see those players currently on the edge of a one match ban due to five yellows, look to “strategically” pick up a yellow card over the next couple of matches.
The FA Cup third round falls on the weekend of January 5 and any player picking up a fifth booking either tomorrow or on this weekend in the Premiership, will sit out their respective tie if it falls seven days later. Bearing in mind that many Premiership sides are likely to field a good few second string players for their FA Cup ties, I just wonder if we’ll see some strategic thinking taking place with regards to bans.
The likes of Carragher, Lampard, Carvalho, Essien and Evra are all currently sitting on four bookings. It will be interesting to see how many of those manage to pick up a fifth booking by the end of the weekend.
Liverpool face Wigan at Anfield a week on Sunday, while United travel to Villa for their tie on the Saturday. Hardly gimme’s. However, As Gobbi pointed out in an earlier post, Chelsea face QPR a week on Sunday, a game which they may feel they can win without Lampard, Essien and Carvalho in order to reduce the risk of them missing a crucial Premiership game.
Such cynicism at Christmas can’t be good.