A small raft of Premier League players will be walking a fine line over the next few games as they try to avoid picking up another yellow card that would lead to a suspension.
The rule is that players who receive five yellow cards before a certain date will be served with an automatic one-match suspension.
Premier League players with four yellow cards
Bruno Guimaraes needs to keep a lid on things for the next few games (Image credit: Getty Images)To avoid the automatic one-match ban, these players will need to avoid picking up their fifth yellow card of the season before the end of their 19th game of the Premier League season.
That means they will need to get through the next three games without getting booked if they are to avoid suspension.
Sunderland skipper Granit Xhaka is on the tightrope (Image credit: Getty Images)There are currently 23 players who have already picked up four yellow cards this season and are thus theoretically at risk.
In reality, we can trim that number down a bit as a small handful of those players are now at the Africa Cup of Nations and so won’t get the chance to play for their club before the yellow card cut-off, while others – like Crystal Palace’s Daniel Munoz – are out injured in any case.
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
16 players have already picked up five yellow cards this season, including four who will serve their suspensions this weekend: Brighton’s Diego Gomez and Lewis Dunk, Manchester United’s Casemiro, and Wolves’ Joao Gomes.
Interestingly (ish), if a player receives two yellow cards in a single game (and thus a red), it does not count towards their tally of bookings as it pertains to the ‘five/ten yellow cards’ rule….not that that does much good, as it leads to a one-match ban in itself anyway.
Gianluigi Donnarumma has already got four yellow cards (Image credit: Getty Images)Premier League players on four yellow cards* Player is at the Africa Cup of Nations and will not appear for their club before the yellow card cut-off
Boubacar Kamara (Aston Villa)Matty Cash (Aston Villa)Alex Jimenez (Bournemouth)Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth)Nathan Collins (Brentford)Carlos Baleba (Brighton)*Ferdi Kadioglu (Brighton)Mats Wieffer (Brighton)Daniel Munoz (Crystal Palace)James Garner (Everton)Ethan Ampadu (Leeds)Jayden Bogle (Leeds)Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool)Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City)Patrick Dorgu (Manchester United)Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle)Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest)Granit Xhaka (Sunderland)Noah Dadiki (Sunderland)Reinildo Mandava (Sunderland)*Pedro Porro (Tottenham)Andre (Wolves)
