In the Suspension Tightrope, we look at the players close to a ban, already suspended or returning from the naughty step in Gameweek 16.
HOW MANY BOOKINGS RESULT IN A BAN – AND WHEN ARE THE CUT-OFF POINTS?
We’ve taken the above table from the Football Association website. It details the cut-off points for the various yellow card thresholds.
The one we’re concerned about right now is the five-caution mark. This is an unwanted target that Premier League players will have to avoid for their team’s first 19 league matches of the season.
Punishments for yellow card accumulation are competition-specific, whereas suspensions for dismissals cover all competitive matches.
ON FOUR YELLOW CARDS
There are five new additions to the 22-strong list, all of them defenders. They are: Lewis Dunk (£4.5m), Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m), Jayden Bogle (£4.4m), Morato (£4.3m) and Yerson Mosquera (£4.3m).
Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.7m) and Daniel Munoz (£6.1m) – the only two names in the above list with double-digit ownerships – remain precariously positioned on four bookings.
ON THREE YELLOW CARDS
There are 50 others who have a bit more breathing space on three yellow cards.
They include 11 names who all sit in 10%+ of FPL squads: Micky van de Ven (£4.7m), Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m), Marc Cucurella (£6.2m), Bryan Mbeumo (£8.4m), Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m), Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m), Pedro Porro (£5.3m), Jack Grealish (£6.6m), Igor Thiago (£6.9m), Bruno Guimaraes (£6.9m) and Phil Foden (£8.6m).
SUSPENDED IN GAMEWEEK 16
Four players were booked for the fifth time this season at the weekend.
Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) was the most notable from a FPL perspective, while Conor Bradley (£5.0m), Kyle Walker (£4.4m) and Kevin Schade (£7.0m) followed suit. They’ll all miss out in Gameweek 16.
Two players received red cards on Saturday, meanwhile. Burnley’s Lucas Pires (£3.8m) saw his marching orders for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, while Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien (£4.0m) was dismissed for serious foul play. They will be banned for one and three league matches, respectively.
In terms of ongoing punishment, Lewis Cook (£4.9m) and Moises Caicedo (£5.8m) finally complete their three-match bans in Gameweek 16. They return the following week.
Hannibal Mejbri (£4.8m) is only one game through a four-match suspension for misconduct.
Mykhailo Mudryk (£4.9m) remains indefinitely suspended by the FA.
BACK FROM A BAN IN GAMEWEEK 16
Tim Iroegbunam (£4.8m), Tyler Adams (£5.0m) and Joao Gomes (£5.3m) are all back in Gameweek 16. They had previously reached the five-caution mark.
Also returning is Idrissa Gana Gueye (£5.4m), who has served a three-match ban for violent conduct.
