Our Suspension Tightrope series summarises the current state of play regarding bans for yellow card accumulation – although there’s now little to worry about for the vast majority of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
Most players have now escaped the threat of a one-match suspension, with the yellow card amnesty arriving after the completion of a team’s 19th league fixture (more on that later).
There are still four Fantasy Premier League (FPL) assets who could pick up a ban, however, which we detail below.
CURRENTLY SUSPENDED
Granit Xhaka (£4.8m) is the only Premier League player banned for Gameweek 23, with his dismissal in the EFL Cup semi-final last Thursday meaning that he will miss the return leg this week and Sunday’s visit of Burnley.
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 three sides have yet to reach that landmark: Burnley, Leicester and Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs and Leicester will do so after they meet at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday (part of Gameweek 22), while Burnley won’t reach their 19th fixture until their Gameweek 23 clash with Arsenal.
This could change if there are further postponements, of course.
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.
Just two players remain at risk of an immediate suspension.
Josh Brownhill (£4.3m) and Cristian Romero (£4.8m) are both on four yellow cards, although Romero likely won’t be fit enough to feature in Spurs’ 19th league fixture anyway.
It’s also worth mentioning Jay Rodriguez (£5.2m) and Ben Mee (£4.8m), 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.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
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.
No-one is close to that unwanted landmark just yet, with Mohammed Salisu (£4.5m) leading the race on seven cautions.
Punishments for yellow card accumulation are competition-specific, whereas suspensions for dismissals cover all competitive matches.
2 years, 8 months ago
I'm gonna give myself a one match ban.