(Credit: Imago)

Michael Mongie

Sun 28 September 2025 19:30, UK

Just six games into the Premier League season, several players are close to receiving their first suspension of the season for yellow card accumulation.

The Premier League has had its fair share of controversy this weekend, with Bruno Fernandes escaping a red card for a high boot on Dango Outtarra.

Mohamed Salah’s handball incident against Crystal Palace received the most online attention as it happened in the buildup to Federico Chiesa’s goal, although the shirt pull on the Egyptian from Maxence Lacroix may have been a factor.

Chelsea should have conceded a penalty against Brighton, but there are a number of players who will soon be unable to escape suspensions for accumulating too many yellow cards.

Rule explained as Sasa Lukic and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall edge closer to Premier League suspension

If a player receives five yellow cards before December 31st, they will miss the next league game.

If they receive 10 yellow cards before the 32nd game of the Premier League season, they will miss the next game.

While it’s rare, if a player receives 15 yellow cards at any stage during the season, they will miss three league games.

Fulham star Sasa Lukic and Everton‘s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are now on four yellow cards, meaning they are one booking away from their first suspension of the campaign.

Below is a list of the Premier League stars with three yellow cards:

• Matt Doherty (Wolves)
• Alex Jimenez (Bournemouth)
• Tim Oroegbunam (Everton)
• Joao Gomes (Wolves)
• Nathan Collins (Brentford)
• Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest)
• Tyler Adams (Bournemouth)
• WIll Hughes (Crystal Palace)
• Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal)

Comparing the correlation between total bookings and Premier League table position

The term ‘professional foul’ has been in football a long time and refers to the tactical decision to foul a player to prevent a dangerous attack with the knowledge that it will result in a booking.

During their peak, Manchester City under Pep Guardiola became quite infamous for it while Liverpool have been no stranger in recent years to stopping attacks with fouls.

While there is no direct link between the total number of bookings and a team’s position in the Premier League table, a number of the lower-placed sides this season have also received a surprisingly low number of bookings.

West Ham (19th), Manchester United (14th) and Newcastle United (15th) could take this information on board and consider how their defence in transition should include more professional fouls to prevent more goals on the counterattack.