Four Arsenal players will have to tread carefully during the busy December fixture schedule in order to avoid a Premier League suspension. Mikel Arteta has already been forced to contend with a number of absences due to yellow and red cards with Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba all having served one-game bans.
Since Saliba's dismissal against Bournemouth back in mid-October, the Gunners' disciplinary record in the Premier League has improved with just 13 cautions shown in the last five games in comparison to the 24 separate cards dished out during the first few months of the campaign.
Though three players have served a suspension, no Arsenal star has missed a game because of an accumulation of yellow cards, but that could change very soon. In the 2-0 victory over Manchester United, only Oleksandr Zinchenko was booked, but there are others that will be walking a suspension tightrope over the coming weeks.
With that being said, football.london has taken a look at the four players, according to the Premier League's official website, that could be forced to miss some action before yellow cards reset after gameweek 19 which arrives across the New Year period.
Gabriel Jesus
Despite only playing 228 minutes of Premier League football this season, Gabriel Jesus is just one yellow away from serving a suspension. The Brazil international has picked up cautions in brief cameo appearances against Wolves, Manchester City and Liverpool while also being shown a yellow during his most recent league start against Nottingham Forest.
Though he does not feature often, it will be a blow to lose his services during the hectic Christmas period where rotation is likely.
Jorginho
Midfielder Jorginho is in a very similar boat to Jesus having minimally featured but still picked up several yellow cards in that time. He has played just 64 minutes more than Jesus with the only major difference being that he is two cautions away from a suspension instead of just one.
The Italy international rarely makes an appearance from the bench and thus two of his three yellows, against Tottenham and Nottingham Forest, have come in half of his league starts this season. The other arrived in the four minutes he spent on the pitch in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle in early November.
Bukayo Saka
While Jorginho and Jesus are very much fringe players, losing Saka for a Premier League fixture would be a major blow. Before the clash against Nottingham Forest, which was only just under two weeks ago, Saka had picked up just one yellow card but that tally has now tripled.
After being handed a caution in that 3-0 win against Forest, Saka was also shown one in the 5-2 triumph against West Ham after clashing with Emerson.
He also committed two fouls against Manchester United on Wednesday with one of those a rather late challenge on Tyrell Malacia which could have easily been a booking. Though Arsenal's upcoming games, before the cut-off point arrives for them against Brentford on January 1, 2025, Arteta will be keen to have Saka available throughout.
Jurrien Timber
Finally, Jurrien Timber is the only other Arsenal player actually close to a suspension with the versatile defender having picked up yellows against Brighton, Tottenham and Newcastle.
While far from ideal for Arteta, injury may have arrived at a good time for Timber as the two games he did miss could have easily resulted in more cautions given the fact that Riccardo Calafiori, his replacement, was booked in one of those fixtures.
Timber has managed the last four games very well though, however he is still only two yellow cards away from suspension.
It is also worth noting the likes of Kai Havertz, Declan Rice, David Raya, Thomas Partey, William Saliba and Ben White, less so the latter because of injury, could also still face a ban despite only currently being on two yellow cards.
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