In the Suspension Tightrope, we look at players who are suspended or returning from the naughty step in Gameweek 34.
GOOD NEWS!
We start with some good news, however.
All 20 top-flight clubs have now contested 32 or more fixtures, so any player closing in on 10 Premier League bookings is no longer in danger of picking up a two-match ban for yellow card accumulation.
Bernardo Silva (£6.2m) was the last player who could have picked up a two-game suspension but he survived Sunday’s win over Arsenal without picking up a caution.
CAN PLAYERS STILL BE SUSPENDED FOR YELLOW CARD ACCUMULATION?
The table above is from the Football Association website and details the cut-off points for the various yellow card thresholds.
As mentioned above, players racking up 5/10 Premier League yellow cards are no longer in danger.
However, anyone amassing 15 cautions by the end of 2025/26 will pick up a three-game ban.
WHO COULD STILL REACH 15 BOOKINGS?
There are two players who could still reach 15 yellow cards by the end of the season:
However, they’d have to be booked in every single one of their clubs’ remaining fixtures to reach that figure.
Even then, their suspension wouldn’t be served until 2026/27. Bernardo, as we know, won’t even be a Manchester City player by then!
WHICH PLAYERS ARE SERVING SUSPENSIONS IN GAMEWEEK 34?
Joelinton (£5.9m) and Yerson Mosquera (£4.3m) will miss this weekend’s matches as they serve the final game of their two-match suspensions.
Lisandro Martinez (£4.8m) still has two games to go of his three-match ban, too.
RETURNING FROM A BAN IN GAMEWEEK 34
Harry Maguire (£4.4m) returns for Manchester United this coming weekend. He has been absent for the last two matches after a Gameweek 31 dismissal and then a subsequent FA charge for “acting in an improper manner”.
