Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) and Anthony Gordon (£5.6m) avoided receiving their fifth yellow card of the season in Gameweek 9, but they, along with a few others, will be walking the suspension tightrope for quite some time.
In this, we look at Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players who are a caution or two away from a one-match ban and assets who have already been suspended.
The one we’re most concerned about right now is the five-caution threshold, an unwelcome objective that Premier League players must avoid for their team’s first 19 league matches of the season.
A reminder: punishments for yellow card accumulation are competition-specific, whereas suspensions for dismissals cover all competitive matches.
Currently banned
Ruben Neves (£5.5m) will miss Gameweek 10 after being cautioned for the fifth time this season in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ defeat to West Ham United on Saturday.
Joao Palhinha (£5.0m) is back this weekend after serving a one-game suspension for booking accumulation in Gameweek 9.
Away from yellow cards, four players have been suspended after being sent off.
After being punished for significant foul play on Saturday, Emerson Royal (£5.1m) and Nathaniel Chalobah (£4.4m) will not return until Gameweek 13.
However, Luis Sinisterra (£6.5m) will only be suspended for one league game after being sent off for two bookable offences against Aston Villa.
Nathan Collins (£4.5m), Neves’ teammate, serves the second of a three-game suspension in Gameweek 10.
On four or three yellow cards
Jesus and Gordon avoided the referee’s notebook at the weekend, but they will need to escape another caution until mid-January to avoid a one-match punishment.
This season, Arsenal’s Brazilian striker has committed more fouls (17) than any other Premier League player.
Aaron Hickey (£5.0m) and the 7.8%-owned Diogo Dalot (£4.5m) both received their fourth yellow cards of 2022/23 in the previous Gameweek, joining Jesus and company on the verge.
The big names further back include Reece James (£6.0m), Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m), and William Saliba (£4.9m). Of course, there’s no cause for immediate anxiety, but they’ll need to avoid two appointments between now and early 2023 to swerve a one match ban.
