“Throughout this Premier League season, an impressive count of 38 players faced suspension due to accumulating five yellow cards within the initial phase. Notably, impactful absences like Rodri and Jack Grealish from Manchester City’s squad during their loss to Aston Villa highlighted the significant repercussions of these accumulated bookings, notably earned during the match against Spurs.
A particular mention goes to Nicolas Jackson, whose seventh game with Chelsea was missed due to gathering five bookings in six matches, playing as a centre-forward. This tally even included a caution for standing too close during a free-kick against Aston Villa, occurring just after Mauricio Pochettino emphasized the critical need to avoid cheap yellow cards. Quite an eventful scenario, isn’t it?
Presently, 37 more players teeter on the edge, just one yellow card away from missing a game during the Busy Festive Period. Some among them are expected to face trouble. However, in most cases, it’s merely one game to stay clear of any penalty, as the slate gets wiped clean post the 19th game—except if a player amasses 10 bookings before the 32nd game. Nicolas seems to be on the radar for that!
Here’s a detailed breakdown of those players in imminent jeopardy across different teams:
Arsenal has Ben White walking the tightrope, while Kai Havertz has already fallen off, now serving a ban after his fourth yellow. Among them, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Eddie Nketiah have garnered just two Premier League bookings this season—a commendably disciplined bunch. However, Mikel Arteta’s situation seems a bit different.
Aston Villa, majorly benefitting from suspension rules against City, navigated a win over Brentford without Douglas Luiz and Lucas Digne due to their fifth bookings in the season. Matty Cash’s suspension might be the least of his worries, having sustained a shoulder injury while collecting that crucial fifth booking. Three players now remain on the brink of potential suspension, needing to play clean in the next game.
For Bournemouth, Marcos Senesi’s bookings seem to correlate intriguingly with the team’s outcomes. Initially cautioned once in the first 11 games—coinciding with only one win—Senesi has now received three cautions in the last six games, during which Bournemouth secured five victories and drew against the likely champions, Aston Villa. Moreover, Senesi notably scored in two of those games, which could be considered even more impactful.”