Chelsea could have as many as three players suspended for their Christmas period match against Crystal Palace as several Premier League clubs risk losing key players ahead of the festive run of fixtures. The Blues will embark on a run of three matches in seven days when they head to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Christmas Eve, but will run the risk of losing key personnel should any of them pick up a yellow card during the match a Molineux.
World Cup-winning midfielder Enzo Fernandez is a single booking away from an automatic one-match suspension and will have to walk a tightrope over the entire Christmas period to avoid missing any matches for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
The situation is the same for forward Raheem Sterling and winger Cole Palmer, who are also both one yellow card away from a suspension.
It leaves Pochettino with strategic decisions to make as he tries to juggle his injury-hit squad as best as he can through the remaining games in December.
No team has more players currently at risk of imminent suspension than Chelsea, but a number of Premier Leauge pacesetters are also sweating on individuals in their first teams.
Arsenal will lose forward Kai Havertz if he is booked against Liverpool in a crunch top-of-the-table clash at Anfield on Saturday evening, which will determine who is at the summit of the Premier League on Christmas Day.
But the same problem is true of the Reds’ striker Darwin Nunez. Jurgen Klopp is already without the services of the injured Diogo Jota and any further enforced absences from his forward line over the forthcoming week will leave the German’s front three looking threadbare.
Aston Villa has emerged as the surprise package this season with Unai Emery guiding the midlands club into a position that suggests they simply cannot be ignored as credible title contenders.
But Villa also have the threat of one-match bans hanging over three of their players, with right-back Matty Cash and forward Jhon Duran both facing suspension if they pick up one more yellow card over Christmas.
Perhaps most significantly of all, however, is the prospect of losing influential captain John McGinn. The Scotland international has been in inspiring form for Emery’s team during their charge up the table, but his next yellow card will result in a one-match ban that would be a blow to their progress.
In total, there are 35 players at immediate risk of a one-game suspension heading into this weekend’s fixtures.
Full list of players one booking away from suspension
Anel Ahmedhodzic
Rayan Ait-Nouri
Kristoffer Ajer
Joachim Andersen
Joelinton
Jordan Ayew
Jayden Bogle
Matty Cash
Vladimír Coufal
Abdoulaye Doucoure
Lewis Dunk
Jhon Duran
Enzo Fernandez
Saman Ghoddos
Billy Gilmour
Gustavo Hamer
Kai Havertz
Hwang Hee-chan
Issa Kabore
Jamaal Lascelles
Sean Longstaff
Orel Mangala
John McGinn
Kaoru Mitoma
Darwin Nunez
William Osula
Cole Palmer
Antonee Robinson
Cristian Romero
Ibrahim Sangare
Pape Sarr
Marcos Senesi
Raheem Sterling
Joel Ward
Ashley Young
