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New suspension worry emerges for Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham ahead of Newcastle United fixture

Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham have a couple of suspension worries ahead of next week's home encounter against Newcastle
-Credit:Clive Mason/Getty Images


Ange Postecoglou will have his fingers crossed that his Tottenham players come through Sunday's game against Wolves unscathed given the sheer magnitude of their injury crisis right now. Already without a host of first-team players, there are now question marks over the fitness of Radu Dragusin going into the fixture at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Romanian tweaked his ankle in the final few minutes of the Boxing Day defeat at Nottingham Forest and he is a doubt for their final game of 2024. One player who will definitely be missing on Sunday is Djed Spence, who was sent off at the City Ground after receiving two yellow cards.

The versatile full-back will now serve a one-match ban as a result of his dismissal but he will be available for their following league match at home to Newcastle United. In regards to suspensions, Sunday's round of Premier League games are very important as they represent the halfway stage of the season and also the cut-off point for a one-match ban for five yellow cards.

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As ever, any player who picks up five yellow cards in their team's first 19 league games of the season will be handed a one-match ban. Spurs have been impacted by this recently as Yves Bissouma had to sit out the 5-0 win at Southampton after receiving a caution in the Chelsea defeat.

As things stand, Tottenham currently have three players walking the disciplinary tightrope as they are on four yellow cards for the season. The trio in question are Rodrigo Bentancur, Micky van de Ven and James Maddison.

While there is no danger of Van de Ven receiving a suspension as he is injured and not expected to return until into the new year, Bentancur and Maddison will have to tread very carefully against Wolves. The Uruguayan only returned to the Tottenham team at Nottingham Forest after serving his seven-match domestic ban and he did manage to avoid a yellow card at the City Ground that would have seen him immediately return to the stands.

Maddison is now very close to a suspension after obtaining yellow cards in the recent games away at Southampton and Nottingham Forest, adding to the cautions he received against Newcastle and Brentford earlier in the campaign. Such a key figure in recent weeks with five goals in his last seven league fixtures, Tottenham have to ensure he gets through the Wolves fixture without finding himself in the referee's book.

Following the completion of Premier League matchweek 19, players will no longer be able to earn a one-match suspension for five yellow cards. Instead, a player will be suspended for two games should they be booked 10 times across their first 32 Premier League matches of the season.

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