Newcastle United striker is on the edge of a two-match Premier League ban for Newcastle United, but a recent injury may let him to avoid punishment.
The Brazilian has been booked nine times in the Premier League this season, but sustained a knee injury after being booked in the recent 2-1 loss to Fulham at St James’ Park. Joelinton had previously served a one-match punishment for picking up five bookings in Newcastle’s first 19 Premier League games, missing December’s trip to Ipswich Town.
After earning up four additional bookings since returning from suspension, Newcastle’s combative midfielder must now go the next eight Premier League games without picking up a booking or face a two-match punishment. His current injury has kept him out of Newcastle’s previous two cup games and is expected to keep him out for Saturday’s trip to Manchester City, as well as the next games against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
It’s a setback for Newcastle, especially if Joelinton receives a yellow card and misses the next two matches. However, his chances of being banned have decreased from near certainty to likely, considering that by the time he returns, he will just have to go five matches without picking up a booking.
It would not be Joelinton’s first suspension; in the 2022-23 season, he missed two games after receiving ten bookings.
What Premier League rules say about bookings
According to Premier League rules, any player who receives 10 bookings in the first 32 Premier League games must serve a two-game suspension.
While Joelinton is near to a ban, no other Newcastle players are in severe danger right now. Dan Burn has seven bookings but is also missing due to injury, while Sandro Tonali and Fabian Schar each have five.
Tonali would need to be booked five more times in Newcastle’s next eight games to face a ban. Bruno Guimaraes and Lewis Hall have three bookings each, while Anthony Gordon, Sean Longstaff, Jacob Murphy, Nick Pope, and Joe Willock have two.
Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Kieran Trippier, and Callum Wilson each have one yellow card.
After 10 bookings, the 32-game threshold is reached; any player who receives 15 bookings during the season is subject to a three-match ban. To date, no player has been cautioned thus many times in a single Premier League season.
Do bookings & bans impact the cup competitions?
For those panicking about the FA Cup fifth round against Brighton & Hove Albion or the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on March 16 – don’t!
Booking suspensions are competition-specific, meaning a suspension picked up as a result of accumulating yellow cards in the Premier League is served only in the Premier League while a suspension picked up in the cup competitions is served in that specific competition.
Still, the rules are different for red cards, which do transcend competitions. Newcastle found that out when they reached the Carabao Cup final in 2023 when Bruno Guimaraes was sent off in the semi-final second leg against Southampton and missed the three following matches for Newcastle which all happened to be in the Premier League before being back available for the final.
But Nick Pope wasn’t so fortunate after his sending-off in the Premier League against Liverpool led to him missing the final at Wembley Stadium as Newcastle lost 2-0 to Manchester United.
