Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea have six players at risk of Premier League suspensions

Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea all have two Premier League players each at risk of a suspension after 12 games of the season.

Players who accumulate five yellow cards in the first 19 matches of the season are automatically subjected to a one-match ban.

And of the players on four yellows are Manchester United duo Kobbie Mainoo and Lisandro Martinez. Neither featured in Ruben Amorim’s first Red Devils match on Sunday at Ipswich.

The pair are both out injured but Martinez, after suffering from back pain, could return next weekend against Everton at Old Trafford. Mainoo was meanwhile an unused substitute at Portman Road.

Amorim will be particularly keen to have the pair available for trips to Arsenal and Manchester City next month given their quality.

Similarly, Liverpool have two key men – Ibrahima Konate and Alexis Mac Allister – one yellow away from being suspended. Konate has been one of the league leaders’ best players this season.

Arne Slot’s side face Manchester City next and then Newcastle and Everton away from home, while they travel to Tottenham before Christmas too, meaning the centre-back and central midfielder will need to be careful to avoid a ban.

Spurs themselves have Rodrigo Bentancur and Micky Van de Ven on four yellows. Yet the Dutch defender is out until the middle of next month and Bentancur will not play in the Premier League again until Boxing Day.

He was given a seven-game domestic ban for a racist slur towards team-mate Son Heung-min. The Argentine will miss high-profile matches at home to Chelsea and Liverpool, as well as a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Man United.

If he returns against Forest, Bentancur will still need to avoid a yellow, else he will then incur a one-game suspension and miss Tottenham’s final match of 2024 against Wolves.

Chelsea’s seven-goal striker Nicolas Jackson and winger Pedro Neto are another two at risk of a ban. The pair have been crucial for Enzo Maresca’s side, though their squad depth means it may be less of an issue for the Blues than any other sides if they miss a game.

Neto missed the weekend’s win at Leicester, in which Jackson opened the scoring, due to injury but could be fit for the upcoming visit of Aston Villa.

Arsenal have just the one player on four yellows – striker Gabriel Jesus. That’s despite the fact the striker has only played 212 minutes in the Premier League, the equivalent of 2.3 full matches.

His role as a bench player, having started just two of Arsenal’s 12 games, means his absence would not hit the Gunners as hard as Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea or United may be hit by their players getting suspended.

Every Premier League player on four yellow cards

Arsenal – Gabriel Jesus

Bournemouth – Lewis Cook, Justin Kluivert, Marcos Senesi

Chelsea – Nicolas Jackson, Pedro Neto

Crystal Palace – Daniel Munoz

Everton – Michael Keane

Fulham – Calvin Bassey, Sasa Lukic

Ipswich – Omari Hutchinson, Sam Morsy

Leicester – Jordan Ayew, Wilfred Ndidi

Liverpool – Ibrahima Konate, Alexis Mac Allister

Man Utd – Kobbie Mainoo, Lisandro Martinez

Newcastle – Joelinton, Fabian Schar

Nottingham Forest – Ryan Yates

Southampton – Tyler Dibling, Flynn Downes, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Adam Lallana

Tottenham – Rodrigo Bentancur, Micky van de Ven

West Ham – Lucas Paqueta

Wolves – Rayan Ait-Nouri, Nelson Semedo, Toti Gomes, Joao Gomes