The Premier League festive fixtures are coming thick and fast and there’s a long list of players at risk of watching their teams’ Boxing Day games from the stands after an indulgent Christmas Day.
Premier League players who get five yellow cards in the first 19 games serve a one-match suspension. With a full programme of fixtures scheduled across Saturday and Sunday, no fewer than 38 players are on four bookings.
Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Rayan Ait-Nouri is also on four bookings but will be eligible for their Boxing Day game against Manchester United after serving a suspension this weekend.
Which Premier League players could be suspended on Boxing Day?
Yellow cards this weekend could have a big impact on subsequent festive fixtures at the top of the Premier League, where leaders Liverpool will have three players walking a disciplinary tightrope if they feature against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Ryan Gravenberch, Ibrahima Konate and Darwin Nunez are all on four yellow cards. Konate has sat out the whole of December with a knee injury but Gravenberch has only missed 23 minutes of Premier League football this season.
Chelsea need to avoid bookings at both ends of the pitch when they play Everton on Saturday. Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and striker Nicolas Jackson are each a yellow card away from a one-match ban.
Arsenal visit Crystal Palace on Saturday with the threat of suspension hanging over Gabriel Jesus, who scored a hat-trick against the Eagles in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Other players on the brink of a ban include Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, Justin Kluivert of Bournemouth, Manchester United defender Harry Maguire and Bernardo Silva of Manchester City.
Fourth-placed Nottingham Forest would be without Nicolas Dominguez, Neco Williams and Ryan Yates against Spurs on Boxing Day should they collect a fifth yellow card at Brentford on Saturday.
West Ham United are top of the Christmas naughty list with five players – Edson Alvarez, Lucas Paqueta, Guido Rodriguez, Carlos Soler and Tomas Soucek – on four yellow cards. The Hammers play Brighton at home on Saturday and Southampton away on Boxing Day.
There are four Leicester City players in the same position before Ruud van Nistelrooy and the Foxes prepare to face Wolves and Liverpool in their next two games. Jordan Ayew, Wilfred Ndidi, Oliver Skipp and Jamie Vardy have four bookings apiece to their names.
Here’s the full list of players at risk of a Boxing Day suspension.
Keep your eyes peeled for a cheap yellow for one of these this weekend.
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Gabriel Jesus | Arsenal |
| Morgan Rogers | Aston Villa |
| Justin Kluivert | Bournemouth |
| Lewis Cook | Bournemouth |
| Marcos Senesi | Bournemouth |
| Jan Paul van Hecke | Brighton |
| Lewis Dunk | Brighton |
| Nicolas Jackson | Chelsea |
| Robert Sánchez | Chelsea |
| Jefferson Lerma | Crystal Palace |
| Ashley Young | Everton |
| Michael Keane | Everton |
| Sam Morsy | Ipswich Town |
| Jamie Vardy | Leicester City |
| Jordan Ayew | Leicester City |
| Oliver Skipp | Leicester City |
| Wilfred Ndidi | Leicester City |
| Darwin Nunez | Liverpool |
| Ibrahima Konate | Liverpool |
| Ryan Gravenberch | Liverpool |
| Bernardo Silva | Manchester City |
| Harry Maguire | Manchester United |
| Fabian Schar | Newcastle United |
| Sandro Tonali | Newcastle United |
| Neco Williams | Nottingham Forest |
| Nicolas Domínguez | Nottingham Forest |
| Ryan Yates | Nottingham Forest |
| Adam Armstrong | Southampton |
| Adam Lallana | Southampton |
| Mateus Fernandes | Southampton |
| Micky van de Ven | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Carlos Soler | West Ham United |
| Edson Alvarez | West Ham United |
| Guido Rodriguez | West Ham United |
| Lucas Paqueta | West Ham United |
| Tomas Soucek | West Ham United |
| Mario Lemina | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Rayan Ait-Nouri | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Toti Gomes | Wolverhampton Wanderers |