Which Premier League players could get Christmas off through suspension?

Premier League football is non-stop during the festive season but some players could be about to get Christmas off.

Collecting five yellow cards before Gameweek 19 warrants a one-match suspension. This weekend, we are entering Gameweek 17, with the last fixture of Gameweek 19 coming on January 1, when bookings are cleared, the exception being the rearranged Merseyside derby — Liverpool and Everton’s 19th fixture of the season — which is being held on February 11.

Newcastle United’s Joelinton, Fulham’s Andreas Pereira and Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap are among the nine players who will miss this weekend’s action after receiving their fifth yellow cards last weekend.

Who is close to a Christmas ban?

Forty players are on four yellow cards and will be suspended for one match if they are booked again before the end of Gameweek 19. Some of them, including Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Tottenham Hotspur’s Micky van de Ven, are unlikely to play due to injury, and Spurs’ Rodrigo Bentancur is banned until Boxing Day. For the other players, a fifth bookable offence could mean missing the Boxing Day fixtures (Gameweek 18). Only two fixtures won’t be held on December 26, with Arsenal versus Ipswich and Brighton & Hove Albion versus Brentford on December 27.

Players at risk of suspension

Player	Club	Yellow cards
Gabriel Jesus	Arsenal	4
Morgan Rogers	Aston Villa	4
Lewis Cook	Bournemouth	4
Justin Kluivert	Bournemouth	4
Marcos Senesi	Bournemouth	4
Lewis Dunk	Brighton & Hove Albion	4
Jan Paul van Hecke	Brighton & Hove Albion	4
Nicolas Jackson	Chelsea	4
Robert Sanchez	Chelsea	4
Jefferson Lerma	Crystal Palace	4
Michael Keane	Everton	4
Ashley Young	Everton	4
Omari Hutchinson	Ipswich	4
Sam Morsy	Ipswich	4
Jordan Ayew	Leicester City	4
Wilfred Ndidi	Leicester City	4
Oliver Skipp	Leicester City	4
Jamie Vardy	Leicester City	4
Ryan Gravenberch	Liverpool	4
Ibrahima Konate	Liverpool	4
Darwin Nunez	Liverpool	4
Bernardo Silva	Manchester City	4
Harry Maguire	Manchester United	4
Fabian Schar	Newcastle United	4
Sandro Tonali	Newcastle United	4
Nicolas Dominguez	Nottingham Forest	4
Neco Williams	Nottingham Forest	4
Ryan Yates	Nottingham Forest	4
Adam Armstrong	Southampton	4
Mateus Fernandes	Southampton	4
Adam Lallana	Southampton	4
Rodrigo Bentancur	Tottenham Hotspur	4
Micky van de Ven	Tottenham Hotspur	4
Edson Alvarez	West Ham United	4
Lucas Paqueta	West Ham United	4
Guido Rodriguez	West Ham United	4
Tomas Soucek	West Ham United	4
Rayan Ait-Nouri	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4
Toti Gomes	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4
Mario Lemina	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4

Tallies are cleared at the end of Gameweek 19 but if players are ill-disciplined enough to be booked 10 times overall by Gameweek 32 (April 12) they will be suspended for two matches.

What teams could be heavily impacted?

Leicester City and West Ham United have four players at risk of suspension. For Leicester, their captain and talisman Jamie Vardy would be a big miss, as would Lucas Paqueta and Tomas Soucek for West Ham, with the pair having scored seven league goals between them.

Aston Villa won’t want to lose Morgan Rogers, who has scored four times in the league this season, while there are key players for Manchester City (Bernardo Silva) and Liverpool (Ryan Gravenberch) at risk.

Chelsea also have first-choice goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and in-form striker Nicolas Jackson on the brink of suspension.

What team has the most yellow cards?

Though Chelsea are the league’s in-form team, reducing the deficit between them and leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand, to two points with five victories in five, it hasn’t been flawless from Enzo Maresca’s men.

With 50 yellow cards this season, Chelsea top the table with the most of any Premier League team. Struggling Southampton sit second on 49.

As The Athletic’s Simon Johnson writes: “Chelsea are doing so well, yet this is an area that needs to be improved. Missing players through suspension can contribute to the fine margins which decide games and can upset the rhythm.

“For Chelsea to bring up the half-century of yellow cards already, which as the table below shows is the most any Premier League team has received in 2024-25, is not to be simply ignored.”

Two Chelsea players have picked up six yellows this season (Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana), the most in the league. Southampton’s Flynn Downes, Crystal Palace’s Will Hughes and Fulham’s Sasa Lukic join them on that five-man list.