In the Suspension Tightrope, we look at the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players who are racking up the yellow cards.
This weekly 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 otherwise, 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 nine players who are sat on four yellow cards, one booking away from a ban.
The Aston Villa twosome of Douglas Luiz (£5.6m) and Lucas Digne (£4.7m), owned by 9.2% and 6.4% of FPL managers respectively, have been on the precipice since Gameweek 7.
New to this list is the 13.8%-owned Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m), who was cautioned for the fourth time this season in the Manchester derby on Sunday.
Alexis Mac Allister (£5.8m) and the Nottingham Forest pair of Ibrahim Sangare (£5.0m) and Orel Mangala (£5.0m) also picked up their fourth bookings of the season in Gameweek 10.
There are 36 other players one caution further back.
Kieran Trippier (£7.0m), Matty Cash (£5.2m), Destiny Udogie (£4.9m), Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) and the now injured Pedro Neto (£5.8m) are among the most significant names on three yellow cards.
WHO IS CURRENTLY SUSPENDED – AND WHO WILL RETURN FROM A BAN IN GAMEWEEK 11?
Josh Cullen (£5.0m), Lucas Paqueta (£6.0m) and Edson Alvarez (£5.0m) all collected their fifth bookings of the season at the weekend, so will now serve one-match bans in the Premier League.
Emerson Palmieri (£4.5m), Connor Roberts (£4.4m), Manuel Akanji (£4.9m), Curtis Jones (£4.9m), and Ashley Young (£4.4m) will all return from bans in Gameweek 11.
Lewis Cook (£5.0m), shown a red card for violent conduct in Bournemouth’s loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, will be out until Gameweek 12, however.
Ivan Toney (£7.9m) is not available until mid-January, while Sandro Tonali (£5.3m) won’t be able to kick a ball competitively until late-August 2024.
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.
