Rasmus Højlund of Manchester United and Kyle Walker of Manchester City receive a yellow card from Referee Anthony Taylor during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Manchester United FC at Etihad Stadium on December 15, 2024
Rasmus Højlund and Kyle Walker during the Manchester derby
Several Premier League stars could find themselves out of action on Boxing Day if they pick up a yellow card this weekend.
Saturday sees Aston Villa take on Manchester City in the early kick-off, followed by West Ham versus Brighton, Ipswich Town against Newcastle United, and Brentford squaring off with Nottingham Forest. In the evening, Crystal Palace will be seeking to settle scores with Arsenal following their mid-week Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat.
Sunday's line-up includes Everton versus Chelsea, Manchester United taking on Bournemouth, Fulham hosting Southampton and Leicester City facing Wolves. The final match before Boxing Day will see Tottenham Hotspur play Liverpool.
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Currently, 38 players across the English top flight are treading on thin ice with four yellow cards to their names. According to Premier League rules, players who accumulate five cautions over the first 19 games will receive a one-match ban.
If a player is cautioned 10 times across the first 32 Premier League matches of the season, they will face a two-game suspension. However, bookings accrued in the English top flight do not carry over to domestic cup competitions such as the Carabao Cup or FA Cup.
Therefore, any of the 38 players currently on four yellow cards who get booked this weekend will be suspended for the Premier League fixtures on December 26 and December 27. Manchester United have just one player at risk of missing Boxing Day (Harry Maguire) – as do the reigning champions (Bernardo Silva).
Other Premier League players also treading a fine line with four cautions include: Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Lewis Cook (Bournemouth), Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton), Robert Sanchez (Chelsea) and Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea).
Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace), Michael Keane (Everton), Ashley Young (Everton) and Sam Morsy (Ipswich Town). Jordan Ayew (Leicester City), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City), Oliver Skipp (Leicester City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Darwin Nunez (Liverpool), Fabian Schar (Newcastle United) and Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United).
Nicolas Domínguez (Nottingham Forest), Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest), Ryan Yates (Nottingham Forest), Adam Armstrong (Southampton), Mateus Fernandes (Southampton), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur), Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur).
Edson Alvarez (West Ham), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham), Guido Rodriguez (West Ham), Carlos Soler (West Ham), Tomas Soucek (West Ham), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves), Toti Gomes (Wolves), Mario Lemina (Wolves).
The Premier League's Boxing Day fixtures include: Manchester City vs Everton, Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace, Chelsea vs Fulham, Newcastle United vs Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton vs West Ham, Wolves vs Manchester United and Liverpool vs Leicester City.
The following day, December 27, sees Brighton vs Brentford and Arsenal vs Ipswich Town. All these festive period matches can be streamed live on Amazon Prime Video.
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