England (opens in a new tab) Captain Harry Kane and Brazil (opens in a new tab)‘s Gabriel Jesus is one of a host of Premier League stars who could afford a potentially invaluable break ahead of the World Cup.
The Tottenham (opens in a new tab) and Arsenal (opens in a new tab) the forwards have both received four yellow cards this season, meaning they are one away from serving a one-game ban. And if they secure another booking this weekend, they will be suspended for their respective clubs’ games next weekend – which will see the final round of fixtures before the tournament kicks off in Qatar.
Nine other Premier League stars hoping to head to the World Cup find themselves in the same boat, as the Daily mail (opens in a new tab). They are: Kane’s Spurs team-mate Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay (opens in a new tab)); William Saliba, colleague of the Gunners of Jesus (France (opens in a new tab)); Manchester United (opens in a new tab)by Diogo Dalot (Portugal) (opens in a new tab)); West Ham (opens in a new tab)by Thilo Kehrer (Germany) (opens in a new tab)); Brighton (opens in a new tab)by Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina (opens in a new tab)); Bournemouth (opens in a new tab)by Chris Mepham (Wales) (opens in a new tab)); Fulham (opens in a new tab)by Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia (opens in a new tab)); Everton (opens in a new tab)by Amadou Onana (Belgium) (opens in a new tab)); and Newcastle (opens in a new tab)by Fabian Schar (Switzerland) (opens in a new tab)).
It should be noted that the prohibitions for an accumulation of yellow cards (as opposed to suspensions for red cards) only apply to the competition in which these yellow cards were received, so if any of the above players were to be booked this weekend, he would still be eligible to feature in Round Three of the Carabao Cup midweek – but it’s entirely possible that some are set to have their last domestic action before Christmas.
Could we see some tactical fouls or superfluous shirt removals this weekend? You wouldn’t be surprised…
