In the Suspension Tightrope, we look at the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players who are racking up the yellow cards.
This article reveals when the cut-off dates are for suspensions and how many bookings our players have to avoid in order to dodge a ban.
We also look at who is currently suspended, be it for yellow card accumulation or sendings off.
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.
That’ll be Gameweek 19 in most cases. Manchester City and Brentford, who contest their 19th fixture in Gameweek 20, are the exceptions.
Of course, any postponements, whether they be weather-related or Covid-enforced, would change that situation.
Punishments for yellow card accumulation are competition-specific, whereas suspensions for dismissals cover all competitive matches.
ON FOUR/THREE YELLOW CARDS
There are eight players who are sat on four yellow cards, one booking away from a ban.
The Aston Villa twosome of Douglas Luiz (£5.5m) and Lucas Digne (£4.7m) are perhaps the two most notable names from an FPL perspective.
The penalty-taking Luiz, fresh from a 15-point haul in Gameweek 9, is the third-most-bought player of the week so far.
Digne, meanwhile, sits in 6.1% of FPL squads.
There are 26 other players one caution further back.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m), Destiny Udogie (£4.9m), Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) and Pedro Neto (£5.8m) are the most significant names on three yellow cards, each of them boasting double-digit ownerships.
WHO IS CURRENTLY SUSPENDED – AND WHO WILL RETURN FROM A BAN IN GAMEWEEK 9?
Aaron Hickey (£4.5m), Mario Lemina (£4.9m) and Yves Bissouma (£5.0m) will be newly available in Gameweek 10, having served one match-bans.
But three players were sent off for two bookable offences and another collected his fifth booking of the campaign in Gameweek 9, so will miss out.
All of them are FPL defenders: Emerson Palmieri (£4.5m), Connor Roberts (£4.4m), Manuel Akanji (£5.0m) and Ashley Young (£4.4m).
Lewis Cook (£5.0m), shown a red card for violent conduct in Bournemouth’s loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers, will be out until Gameweek 12.
Curtis Jones (£4.9m), dismissed for serious foul play in Gameweek 7, serves the final match of a three-game ban.
Ivan Toney (£7.9m) is not available until mid-January.
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.
