Referee’s have been given more licence to caution players this season with the threshold for time wasting and dissent noticeably smaller.
In the opening weekend of the Premier League, there was an incredible 42 yellow cards handed out (as well as one red card), with an average of more than four per fixture.
As a result of more bookings, we thought we’d try and select a player from each game this weekend who is likely to end up in the referee’s notebook.
Fulham vs. Brentford: Kenny Tete
Only three teams received more yellow cards in the 22-23 campaign than Fulham, reaching 80 bookings in the 38 league matches.
With Joao Palhinha a major doubt, the next best bet looks to be Kenny Tete. The Dutch defender was cautioned eight times in 31 matches last campaign and also saw yellow against Everton in this season’s opener.
Fulham received six yellow cards in the two games against Brentford last year, comfortably above their average, with Tete booked in the first game.
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth: Milos Kerkez
Milos Kerkez looked good on his Premier League debut last weekend, but a trip to Anfield is a major step-up and there are fewer difficult tasks than an afternoon against Mohamed Salah.
Salah loves to isolate the full-back and he’ll fancy his chances of causing the 19-year-old problems, with lots of opportunities to receive yellow cards.
Tottenham vs. Manchester United: Yves Bissouma
Having struggled in his debut campaign, Yves Bissouma showed Tottenham fans why his was brought his the season opener last weekend.
Bissouma loves a yellow card and has been booked 16 times in the last two seasons, earning a caution pretty much every third game he plays.
In what will likely be an open fixture, there represents the real chance Bissouma will be booked for halting a Manchester United counter attack.
Aston Villa vs. Everton: Michael Keane
The main appeal of selecting Michael Keane is the long odds, with Bet 365 having him at 5.00 to be booked on Sunday.
Up against an in-form Ollie Watkins, we expect Aston Villa to cause Everton lots of problems.
Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal: Cheick Doucoure
Only a handful of Premier League players were booked more than Cheick Doucoure last season, with the Mali international cautioned nine times.
Despite the fact Doucoure appears to have cleaned up his act of late, going 11 without a caution in the Premier League, he is the favourite to be booked for a reason
Others: Max Lowe, James Milner, Kieran Trippier, Vladimir Coufal
9 individual £5 bets with a potential return of £174.25
