To the cynical viewer, the glut of yellow cards this weekend will have had Christmas shopping and midweek cup tie written all over them, in ten-foot-high neon lettering, while the solitary red card smacks a little of both.
The weekend’s sending off, in the second half of Spurs’ Sunday humiliation at home to Liverpool, looked harsh from my already uncomfortable seat in the White Hart Lane stands. A high boot from Paulinho, connecting with Luis Suárez’s chest in an effort to reclaim a bouncing ball in midfield, incurred the wrath of referee Jonathan Moss, who was well within his rights to brandish red. The Brazilian is set to serve a three-match ban and will miss the Capital One Cup tie against West Ham in midweek, in addition to Gameweek 17 and 18 showdowns with Southampton and West Brom.
Also missing midweek cup action through suspension will be Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and Spurs captain Michael Dawson. Their timely fifth yellow cards will now clear both to play through the busy Christmas league schedule without the threat of missing action. Is it too much to ask that their form will improve with the monkeys off their backs? Fans of their clubs and Fantasy managers alike will certainly hope so.
If that wasn’t enough, two more players also moved their quota of yellows past the ban threshold in Sunday action, as both Gabby Agbonlahor and Angel Rangel slipped from the tightrope. The duo picked up cautions against Manchester United and Norwich respectively and, having been knocked out of the Capital One Cup, they will serve these bans in Gameweek 17 instead – Villa, without a goal in their last two games, travel to Stoke, while Swansea face a rampant Everton.
Playing the long game in the build-up to the busy Christmas schedule, and maybe planning some time with the family through an enforced rest, there are no fewer than eight new faces donning their plimsolls and digging out their balancing sticks for Gameweek 17.
The Saturday fixtures saw fourth yellow cards for Michael Essien (in just his fourth domestic start of the season) and for Marouane Chamakh at Stamford Bridge, meanwhile at St James’ Park, bookings for Cheick Tioté and Morgan Schneiderlin meant they also clambered onto the Tightrope. Phillippe Senderos and the fit-again David Silva complete the Saturday sextet, with the latter’s caution perhaps sounding a note of caution to those looking to cover Sergio Agüero’s injury with the scheming Spaniard.
Sunday filled the final two places from the weekend, with José Cañas and Kyle Walker threatening to enforce additional rotation upon their managers as they await the draw for the next round of the squad-sapping Europa League.
Finally to close out the suspension shake-up, we have a number of players returning to the fold having served out their sequestration last weekend. Fabian Delph, Chico Flores, James McCarthy, Yohan Cabaye and Jonathan Walters are all now ready to take their places once again this week.
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