We’re bringing you another Suspension Tightrope article in this period of respite between New Year and Gameweek 22.
Most players have now escaped the threat of a one-match ban, with the yellow card amnesty arriving after the completion of a team’s 19th league fixture (more on that later).
There are still seven Fantasy Premier League assets (FPL) who could pick up a ban, however, which we detail below.
CURRENTLY SUSPENDED
There are six players who will miss out on their side’s first fixture in Gameweek 22 (it might be a double for some teams, hence our emphasis on ‘first’) as a result of yellow card accumulation.
Leeds United duo Tyler Roberts (£4.8m) and Diego Llorente (£4.5m) and Manchester United pair Luke Shaw (£5.0m) and Scott McTominay (£5.4m) are on the banned list, as are Newcastle United’s Javier Manquillo (£3.9m) and Aston Villa’s John McGinn (£5.8m).
Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.8m) will miss Southampton’s match against Brentford next Tuesday but this of course falls within Gameweek 21.
On the red card front, Saints’ Mohammed Salisu (£4.5m) and Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.3m) will sit out cup ties in the coming days as dismissals cover all competitive matches, not just league games.
WHEN ARE THE CUT-OFF POINTS FOR SUSPENSIONS?
As mentioned in the introduction, the yellow card threshold is raised to ten after a team’s 19th league fixture.
Only five sides have yet to reach that landmark: Burnley, Everton, Leicester, Spurs and Watford.
Everton and Leicester will do so after they meet at Goodison Park in the second instalment of the Toffees’ Double Gameweek 21.
A club-by-club rundown is below (clubs in italics have already played their 19th match, while those in bold haven’t done so):
| Club | 19th League Fixture (as things stand) |
| Arsenal | GW19 |
| Aston Villa | GW21 |
| Brentford | GW21 |
| Brighton | GW21 |
| Burnley | GW23 |
| Chelsea | GW19 |
| Crystal Palace | GW20 |
| Everton | GW21 |
| Leeds | GW21 |
| Leicester | GW21 |
| Liverpool | GW20 |
| Man City | GW19 |
| Man Utd | GW21 |
| Newcastle | GW19 |
| Norwich | GW20 |
| Southampton | GW20 |
| Spurs | GW22 |
| Watford | GW22 |
| West Ham | GW20 |
| Wolves | GW21 |
The threshold for ten yellow cards is after 32 league matches, which will be April at the earliest.
Players collecting ten bookings before that point will serve a two-game ban.
Punishments for yellow card accumulation are competition-specific, whereas suspensions for dismissals cover all competitive matches.
ON FOUR/THREE YELLOW CARDS
As a result of what we discussed above, there are very few players who can now pick up a ban as a result of yellow card accumulation.
The names on the above list aren’t particularly notable from an FPL perspective, either, save for perhaps semi-popular bench fodder option Josh Brownhill (£4.3m).
Lucas Digne (£5.0m) and Cristian Romero (£4.8m) aren’t likely to be at risk, with the former out of favour at his current club and the latter sidelined through injury.
We’ve included Jay Rodriguez (£5.2m) and Ben Mee (£4.8m) in the above list as they are the only two players sitting on three yellow cards who can now get a one-match ban for bookings accumulated, although they’d have to be cautioned twice in as many league matches to get a suspension.
SAFE FROM A ONE-MATCH BAN
Everyone else who is sitting on four yellow cards or fewer, including Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.5m), Ruben Dias (£6.3m), Antonio Rudiger (£6.2m), Conor Gallagher (£6.1m), Raphinha (£6.5m) and Marcos Alonso (£5.7m), has now avoided the threat of a one-match ban.
