Which FPL players are suspended or nearing a ban?

In this regular article, we look at the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players who are a caution away from a one-match ban.

We also round up which FPL assets are already suspended ahead of the Boxing Day deadline.

A reminder: punishments for yellow card accumulation are competition-specific, whereas suspensions for dismissals cover all competitive matches.

CURRENTLY SUSPENDED

Just three players are banned for the Premier League’s return round of fixtures, all of whom have under 3% ownership.

The sole red card of Gameweek 16 belonged to Leeds United’s Tyler Adams (£4.9m), booked twice against Tottenham Hotspur in the same match that Rodrigo Bentancur (£5.4m) picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.

Both miss the first game back, as does Crystal Palace centre-half Marc Guehi (£4.4m), so FPL managers can address these bans with the World Cup break’s unlimited free transfers.

Suspension saw five men sit out Gameweek 16 but they’re now ready to be selected. Diogo Dalot (£4.8m) is the highest-profile returnee, with Chris Mepham (£4.4m), Kenny Tete (£4.4m) and Harrison Reed (£4.5m) also back.

Veteran forward Diego Costa (£5.5m) has served his three-match suspension for headbutting an opponent.

ON FOUR YELLOW CARDS

A total of 21 players are on the verge of suspension, with several highly-owned names making their managers nervous.

Arsenal duo Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) and William Saliba (£5.3m) are in lots of teams but sit on four yellow cards – a position Jesus has been in since Gameweek 8 ended.

The Brazilian is a doubt for the restart anyway because of injury.

Harry Kane (£11.6m) is in over a quarter of squads, having picked up 15 attacking returns from his last 14 league games, whilst Fabian Schar (£4.9m), Leon Bailey (£4.5m) and Alexis Mac Allister (£5.4m) are names sometimes seen lurking within the FPL community.

Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.8m) is back from the injury that saw him miss Gameweeks 15 and 16 but will cause further misery for owners should he soon get booked again.

WHEN ARE THE CUT-OFF POINTS FOR SUSPENSIONS?

The table above is taken from the Football Association website and details the cut-off points for the various yellow card thresholds.

The one we’re concerned about right now is the five-caution mark, an unwanted target that Premier League players will have to avoid for their team’s first 19 league matches of the season.

Following the wave of postponements in the autumn and fixture rearrangements over the World Cup break, that is no longer Gameweek 19 for most teams.

The above will change if there are any further rearrangements of the postponed fixtures before that.

Keep your eyes peeled on our Suspension Tightrope widget over the coming weeks and months, as we’ll be updating that after every Gameweek to keep you informed on the latest disciplinary developments.