Anthony Gordon (£5.6m) will miss Gameweek 8 after picking up his fifth booking of the season – but who is close to joining him?
In this Suspension Tightrope piece, we look at the other Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players who are racking up the yellow cards.
This 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 Covid-enforced, 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 six players who are sat on four yellow cards, one booking away from a ban.
Four of them are defensive-minded midfielders of mostly no appeal, Douglas Luiz (£5.4m) being a possible exception as he takes Aston Villa’s penalties and some of their set plays.
Full-backs Aaron Hickey (£4.5m) and Lucas Digne (£4.6m) are the other two, the latter owned by over 5% of FPL bosses.
There are 18 other players one caution further back.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m), Destiny Udogie (£4.8m) and Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m) are the most notable names on three yellow cards, each of them boasting double-digit ownerships.
Udogie has committed more fouls than any other Premier League player this season (16).
WHO IS CURRENTLY BANNED?
Nicolas Jackson (£6.9m) returns from his one-match ban in Gameweek 8 but Gordon misses out in the next round of fixtures.
Malo Gusto (£4.2m), Rodri (£5.6m) and Jean Ricner Bellegarde (£5.0m) will not be available until Gameweek 9, this being the final matches of their three-game bans.
Diogo Jota (£7.8m) and Moussa Niakhate (£5.4m) also won’t be seen before the October international break after being sent off for two bookable offences in Gameweek 7.
Curtis Jones (£4.9m), dismissed for serious foul play in the same match that Jota got his marching orders, is out until Gameweek 11.
Ivan Toney (£7.9m) is, of course, not available until mid-January.
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.
