Chelsea vs Brighton – Marc Cucurella to be carded
Ex-Brighton full-back Marc Cucurella faces his former side having been booked at Stamford Bridge when these 2 sides met here last season. The Spaniard was booked last weekend against Manchester United after committing 3 fouls, and came on midweek against Lincoln to pick up another booking. He will face a tough task directly opposing winger Yankuba Minteh who has drawn 8 fouls in 5 league games, and full-back Joel Veltman who has drawn 8 fouls in 3 league games.
Against Brighton this season, an opposing left-back has been booked in 3 out of 5 league games, and with Simon Hooper officiating this game, having given out 22 yellow cards in 4 league games so far this season, it won’t take much for Cucurella to go into the book for the third game in a row.
Sunday 2pm
Aston Villa vs Fulham – Sasa Lukic to be carded *NAP*
In 4 out of their 5 Premier League games this season, a central midfielder has been booked when facing Aston Villa. This includes repetitive foulers Joelinton, Will Hughes, Tim Iroegbunam and Grant Xhaka.
There is no love lost between these sides, with 26 yellow cards and 2 red cards handed out in their last 4 meetings in the Premier League. This is the perfect game for Fulham’s defensive midfielder Sasa Lukic to pick up his 4th booking of the season. The Serbian international has made 12 tackles and committed 18 fouls in the first 5 league games of the season, including 5 fouls in each of his 2 away games, even picking up a yellow card in each of his nations September World Cup Qualification games.
Since joining Fulham, he has started once against Aston Villa, committing 4 fouls at Villa Park back in May without being booked, having been booked in his prior meeting against Villa after coming off the bench in the 89th minute.
Sunday 4:30pm
Newcastle vs Arsenal – Jurrien Timber to be carded
Newcastle winger Antony Gordon returned from his 3-game suspension in the EFL Cup midweek, drawing 4 fouls in a 4-1 win against Bradford. This weekend his side face Arsenal, an opponent that the home side have beaten in 4 of their last 5 meetings at St James’ Park. In his 138 minutes of action for The Magpies so far this season in the league, Gordon has drawn 4 fouls.
Arsenal full-back Jurrien Timber will most likely directly face the highly fouled English international. When facing tricky winger Jeremy Doku last weekend, Timber made 7 tackles and committed 1 foul which saw him receive a yellow card. This weekend, Timber will have another tough task, considering that he was booked in this exact fixture last November when Newcastle won 1-0. Even in Gordon’s absence, Newcastle have faced a flat back 4 on 4 occasions in the league this season, with those opposing right-backs committing a combined 9 fouls. Bournemouth right-back Alejandro Jimenez was booked for Bournemouth last weekend having committed 3 fouls, with Lewis Hall occupying a left wing-back role, drawing 4 fouls at the Vitality Stadium.
Sunday 8pm
Real Betis vs Osasuna – Lucas Torro to be carded
Spanish midfielder Lucas Torro is no stranger to a yellow card, having picked up 10 or more in 3 of his 5 seasons at Osasuna so far. It looks likely that Torro will make that 4 out of 6 seasons, considering that he has already been booked in 3 out of his sides first 5 league games, having committed 15 fouls.
Against Betis, Torro will likely directly face Argentinian attacking midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, the most fouled player in the division so far, drawing 20 fouls in 6 appearances, with 1 coming from the bench. 14 of those fouls were drawn in Betis’ 3 home games, from which 6 out of 7 opposing central midfielders were booked, including all 3 for Real Sociedad last week.
