Those who keep an eye on our Suspension Tightrope widget on our homepage will be aware that a handful of Fantasy assets are perilously close to a ban.
If Premier League players accrue ten yellow cards in the top flight by the time their team has contested 32 league matches, they will then be slapped with a two-match suspension.
The ban has to be served in the same competition, too, so any suspension will only affect Premier League matches.
The key in the second paragraph above is “32 league matches”, which in most cases will be Gameweek 32.
However, there are some exceptions.
Brighton and Hove Albion have only played 29 Premier League games so far this season and won’t play their 32nd league fixture until Gameweek 34 – but none of the Seagulls’ players have accrued more than five cautions in 2018/19 and so are safe from any possible suspension incurred by collecting ten yellow cards.
Arsenal will play their 32nd Premier League game in Gameweek 33 (see below), as will Southampton – although the Saints’ players, like Brighton’s, can rest easy regarding the threat of a two-match ban.
Nearing a Suspension
| Player | Cost | Team | Bookings | Matches played by team |
| Sokratis Papastathopoulos | £5.1m | Arsenal | 9 | 30 |
| Phil Bardsley | £4.2m | Burnley | 9 | 31 |
| Luke Shaw | £5.1m | Manchester United | 9 | 30 |
| Etienne Capoue | £4.8m | Watford | 9 | 30 |
| Granit Xhaka | £5.2m | Arsenal | 8 | 30 |
| Harry Arter | £4.9m | Cardiff City | 8 | 30 |
| Luka Milivojevic | £6.3m | Crystal Palace | 8 | 30 |
| Diogo Jota | £6.1m | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 8 | 30 |
Phil Bardsley (£4.2m) just has to negotiate Burnley’s sole Gameweek 32 fixture against Bournemouth to avoid a two-match ban, while Sokratis (£5.1m) has to dodge a yellow card against Newcastle and Everton in Gameweeks 32 and 33 to do the same.
Luke Shaw (£5.1m) and Etienne Capoue (£4.8m) both have a Double Gameweek 32 with Manchester United and Watford, so there exists the possibility of these players being booked in their opening Gameweek 32 fixture at Old Trafford and then being suspended for their respective clubs’ second game in midweek.
Even if Shaw and Capoue avoid picking up bookings in Manchester next Saturday, they would have to do likewise on the following Tuesday before the threat of a two-game ban is permanently lifted.
Diogo Jota (£6.1m), Luka Milivojevic (£6.3m) and Harry Arter (£4.9m) would have to be booked in both of their Double Gameweek 32 fixtures in order to be handed a two-match suspension, while Granit Xhaka (£5.2m) only needs to avoid a caution in one of Gameweek 32 or 33 to avoid that fate.
Ben Mee (£4.6m), Matt Ritchie (£5.8m) and Robert Snodgrass (£5.0m) are all sitting on eight yellow cards, too, but their respective clubs have already played 31 Premier League matches so they are no longer at risk.
Snodgrass is, at the time of writing, contesting an FA charge for allegedly abusing an anti-doping official.
Currently Banned
There are currently four FPL assets serving a ban in the Premier League, two of which were as the result of collecting ten yellow cards.
Ryan Bennett (£4.1m) will miss the first of Wolves’ Double Gameweek 32 fixtures before returning for the second match against Manchester United, while Fabian Schar (£4.7m) will be back for Newcastle in Blank Gameweek 33.
Harry Maguire (£5.4m) will also return in Gameweek 33 for Leicester as he serves a one-match ban for a professional foul, while Lucas Torreira (£4.7m) won’t be available until Gameweek 34 for Arsenal after his dismissal for violent conduct in the north London derby.
The Next Threshold: 15 Bookings
Once the threshold of 32 league matches is lifted, the next “target” for Premier League players to avoid is 15 yellow cards.
An FPL asset who collects 15 cautions will be handed a three-match ban.
There are a handful of players who are already into double figures for the season:
| Player | Cost | Team | Bookings |
| Jefferson Lerma | £4.5m | Bournemouth | 11 |
| Jose Holebas | £4.8m | Watford | 10 |
| Fabian Schar | £4.7m | Newcastle United | 10 |
| Ryan Bennett | £4.1m | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 10 |
