Legends lost, two managers sacked and now Jeff Hendrick (5.4) has fallen from the Suspension Tightrope – oh 2016, even in your final week your cruelty knows no bounds.
Rather more pertinently, two well-owned Spurs defenders left it as late as possible to succumb to the dark side and spoil the New Year’s Day plans of large swathes of Fantasy Premier League managers.
Kyle Walker (6.2), at 37.2% the most popular defender in the game, and Jan Vertonghen (5.7 and 8.5%) both picked up their fifth yellows of the season in last night’s 4-1 win at Southampton and will now miss the 2017 trip to Watford.
That will put severe pressure on Spurs’ already stretched defensive resources. Toby Alderweireld (6.3) missed out at St Mary’s with a virus, with Eric Dier (5.0) again filling in at centre-half.
As a result, like-for-like swaps to cover the absence of Walker and Vertonghen suddenly look rather unappealing, and with a January 4 derby against Chelsea also looming, the temptation to go elsewhere for defensive resources might be hard to resist.
At least Vertonghen escaped potential retrospective action for an apparent scratch on Jay Rodriguez’s (6.3) face during the Southampton win. The incident was missed by the match officials and the FA have decided not to fire up the video recorder and take a look themselves.
A lively night on the south coast also involved the controversial dismissal of Nathan Redmond (6.1). His 6.1% ownership base will be relieved to discover that the midfielder misses only the one match for his indiscretion – Saturday’s home fixture with West Brom.
The 3.3%-owned Chelsea winger Pedro (7.0) will also sit out a New Year’s Eve home match, against Stoke City, after receiving his fifth caution of the season in the Blues’ 3-0 win over Bournemouth.
The Spaniard racked up 13 points in what turned out to be his final start of the year, but at least Diego Costa (10.7) and N’Golo Kante (4.7) will be back from their one-match bans for the Stoke encounter.
Three others also succumbed when in touching distance of the January 1 armistice which lifts the ban bar from five to ten cautions – Watford’s Miguel Britos (4.4), Middlesbrough’s Antonio Barragan (4.6 and 2.1%-owned) and Palace’s Damien Delaney (4.8), who made it three consecutive bookings, and five for the campaign, to rule himself out of a New Year’s Day meeting with Arsenal.
They join two rather more hardcore offenders in the dog house.
The mildly disturbing sight of 30,000 Jamie Vardy (9.6) masks at the King Power confirmed that the striker’s three-match suspension for a lunge on Mame Diouf was about as popular down Leicester way as an ice cream van outside Richard Hammond’s house.
He’s now served one portion of it (the ban, not ice cream), and will miss West Ham at home and a trip to Middlesbrough before a possible return in the FA Cup.
Marko Arnautovic (7.1) is two matches into a similar punishment and remains unavailable until a Gameweek 20 home fixture with Watford.
Back from his four-stretch is Sergio Aguero (12.8). The Argentinian lost more than a million managers during his extended Christmas break, but 28,000+ have already returned to the fold this Gameweek, making him the fifth most popular transfer-in ahead of Saturday’s massive match at Anfield.
It will be interesting to see if those early re-adopters have jumped in too quickly. City won three out of four in Aguero’s absence, scoring nine times. In the four matches before that, they won two, drew one and managed just six goals.
Thirty thousand Vardys grabbed the headlines, but the one-match bans served by Christian Fuchs (5.3) and Robert Huth (4.9) against Everton were arguably far more damaging to a side that hasn’t kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 7.
They’re now back for the Foxes’ home match with a resurgent West Ham on New Year’s Eve, with Pedro Obiang (4.4) available again for the opposition.
Burnley’s Matt Lowton (4.5) completes the list of returning anti-heroes.
Two players hopped onto the Tightrope just in time to risk missing Gameweek 20.
Jack Wilshere (5.9) has started and finished four of Bournemouth’s last five fixtures, avoiding injury but picking up two cautions to make it four for the season to date.
Middlesbrough’s Marten de Roon (4.4) joined the pair on the rope and will have to tread carefully if selected for the New Year’s Eve trip to Old Trafford.
A large chunk of footballing talent is still teetering on the edge of a last-gasp ban, namely: Fernando (4.7); Dejan Lovren (5.0); Harry Arter (5.0); Dan Gosling (4.7); Ryan Mason (4.7); Jake Livermore (4.8); Adam Clayton (4.3); Aleksandar Kolarov (5.8); Lynden Gooch (4.3); Ryan Shawcross (4.9); Billy Jones (4.4); Kyle Naughton (4.5); Dean Marney (4.5); Steven Pienaar (4.9), Jordi Amat (4.1); David Luiz (6.1); Nemanja Matic (5.1) and Michail Antonio (6.7).
The vagaries of the fixture list have now played into the hands of Arsenal, Palace, Spurs and Watford. All four will experience Gameweek 19 on New Year’s Day – after the disciplinary armistice kicks in. As a result, four-card carriers such as Troy Deeney (6.8), Christian Benteke (7.7), Wilfried Zaha (5.8), James McArthur (5.0), Victor Wanyama (4.8) and Mousa Dembele (5.4) can be cautioned without fear of a one-match lay-off.
Looking further ahead, one player is already just two bookings away from hitting the ten-card mark (and a ban) for the season.
Take a bow, Jose Holebas (4.8) – your 7.6% ownership must be so proud.
The Men In Black
Craig Pawson continues to re-write the refereeing rules.
After losing himself in a pre-Christmas red mist, he contracted yellow fever on Boxing Day, dishing out a season-high 11 bookings in the Burnley v Middlesbrough match – two clear of the previous record.
That figure was nearly double the number of shots on target both sides managed, so well done to all concerned, but particular congratulations to Pawson – he’s shown nearly a third of his 58 cards this season in his last two fixtures.
At least card-happy Craig laid off the penalties, leaving Mark Clattenburg to award his fourth and fifth of the season in the Watford v Palace stalemate.
Sam Allardyce’s new charges responded by missing their third of five spot-kicks. Christian Benteke (7.7 and 10.6%-owned) has fluffed two in four attempts this campaign, prompting Big Sam to wonder aloud about giving him the boot from the role.
Watford, meanwhile, have had two and scored them both, courtesy of Troy Deeney (6.8).
Bobby Madley awarded his seventh penalty of the season – only Mike Dean (10) has more – in the Hull v Man City match.
It was his third in his last six outings and a season-leading sixth for City.
The resultant goal was the first from the spot not scored by Aguero, the honours instead going to Yaya Touré (7.3).
As mentioned, Dean made it into double figures for penalties in the Southampton v Spurs match, with Tottenham joining Man City at the top of the spot-kick tree with a sixth award of the season.
Dean also dished out a season-high fourth dismissal, although it was his first straight red – well behind Anthony Taylor’s three grand gestures of justice.
