The Suspension Tightrope

The FA have this morning charged Oumar Niasse with the “successful deception of a match official”, deeming that he dived in the area in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, earning his side a penalty kick for their opening goal.

The three-man FA panel have concluded that there was “overwhelming evidence” that Niasse had dived as part of the incident and the striker could now face a two-match suspension as a result.

He has until 6pm this evening to respond to the decision. Should the charge be upheld, he will sit out Everton’s trip to Southampton in Gameweek 13, along with the midweek home clash with West Ham the following Wednesday.

Niasse becomes the first player to be charged by the FA’s new trial-by-video initiative, aimed at reducing the “simulation” of fouls in the game.

Saturday’s penalty came about when Palace defender Scott Dann was penalised by referee Anthony Taylor when there appeared to be minimal contact with Niasse.

The striker himself was not shy coming forward attempting to justify his action.

“People are saying I fell down too easily, I don’t know about that but the game needed it, and I did it. When I felt contact on my body all I had to do was go to the floor because I was running quickly. That is all I did, and for me it is a good reaction.”

Those ill-fated words are unlikely to have helped Niasse’s cause.

The news comes as a major blow to his new army of owners, with some 124,000+ Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers investing in the Senegalese ahead of Gameweek 13 following his 10-point haul at Palace.

Niasse took his tally to five goals and an assist from just seven appearances following the Palace draw, pushing his claims for the budget third striker slot in our line-ups.

His FPL price had increased to 5.0 as a result of the weekend investment, though with a potential ban in place, it could once again sink back to 4.9 over the coming days.

Much will depend on whether his 5.3% ownership are able to absorb his absence and keep him benched for the next two Gameweeks.

If banned, Niasse will be joined on the sidelines by three players who topple from the suspension tightrope.

Isaac Hayden of Newcastle United, Oriol Romeu of Southampton and Tom Davies of Everton all picked up their fifth bookings of the season at the weekend to sit out Gameweek 13.

Meanwhile, Simon Francis of Bournemouth will also miss the weekend fixture – the Cherries’ trip to Swansea City – after he earned a one-match suspension for earning two yellow cards in the win over 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.