The 34 Premier League players one booking away from a Boxing Day suspension
Christmas is around the corner which means an unhealthy amount of meats, beers, chocolates and Premier League football – all at the same time.
Football seasons are becoming increasingly crammed with the powers that be seemingly desperate to squeeze every last ounce of profit out of their hot commodities, resulting in a never-ending fixture schedule with games seemingly every night at this point.
The Premier League has always had a famously busy Christmas period, though, and it’s actually one of the few things that remain incredibly enjoyable about the division.
In genuinely the least sarcastic way possible, there are few greater feelings than being in a state of food and beer-induced delirium in the days between Christmas and New Year, melted to the sofa and sitting through 90 minutes of mid-table Barclays chaos.
Footballers are humans too, though, and at our expense, they don’t get much of a Christmas in order to conform to such a manic schedule. That is unless they find themselves suspended during the festive period.
Cards have accumulated by this point in the season, leaving plenty of players susceptible to the one-game ban issued for racking up five yellows before they reset after matchday 19, the official halfway point.
We’re not trying to stir the pot by any means, but hypothetically, if a player wanted a less chaotic Christmas by ruling themselves out of the Boxing Day gameweek, they’d have one more weekend of football to do so before Santa arrives.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of every player at each Premier League club who is one booking away from a Boxing Day suspension.
Arsenal – 1
Kai Havertz
Aston Villa – 3
Jhon Duran
John McGinn
Matty Cash
AFC Bournemouth – 1
Marcos Senesi
Brentford – 1
Kristoffer Ajer
Brighton – 3
Billy Gilmour
Kaoru Mitoma
Lewis Dunk
Chelsea – 3
Cole Palmer
Enzo Fernandez
Raheem Sterling
Crystal Palace – 3
Joachim Andersen
Joel Ward
Jordan Ayew
Everton – 2
Abdoulaye Doucoure
Ashley Young
Fulham – 1
Antonee Robinson
Liverpool – 1
Darwin Nunez
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (right) and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ahead of the Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester.
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Luton Town – 1
Issa Kaboré
Newcastle United – 3
Jamaal Lascelles
Joelinton
Sean Longstaff
Nottingham Forest – 2
Orel Mangala
Ibrahim Sangaré
Sheffield United – 4
Anel Ahmedhodzic
Gustavo Hamer
Jayden Bogle
William Osula
Tottenham – 2
Cristian Romero
Pape Sarr
West Ham – 1
Vladimír Coufal
Wolves – 2
Hwang Hee-Chan
Rayan Aït-Nouri
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