Premier League rules could still ban Joelinton for Newcastle United - if this happens against Aston Villa
Joelinton successfully avoided a Premier League ban for Newcastle United ahead of Saturday’s crucial match at Aston Villa (5:30pm kick-off).
A booking for Joelinton against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night would have seen him suspended for Newcastle’s next two Premier League matches against Villa and Ipswich Town.
Instead, Joelinton avoided a booking and remained on nine league bookings for the season. Premier League rules state that any player shown 10 bookings inside a club’s opening 32 league matches will be banned for two games.
Newcastle’s 32nd game of the season came against Palace, meaning Joelinton has successfully avoided a two-match ban.
A suspension seemed inevitable at one stage with Joelinton’s ninth booking coming in a 2-1 defeat to Fulham back in early February. It meant the Brazilian had to get through Newcastle’s next eight league games without picking up a further yellow.
An injury kept him out for three games before he managed to successfully avoid a booking for five consecutive league games to avoid a ban.
Joelinton now ‘free’ after dodging Premier League ban
With Newcastle leading 5-0 against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, Jason Tindall opted to withdraw Joelinton early for the second successive match to prevent him picking up any potential bookings.
When asked about Joelinton avoiding a ban, Tindall said: “It just goes to show he can do it.
“Of course, that [suspension] was always in the back of our mind and hence we've taken him off in the last two games, probably earlier than when he normally would come off.
“But a testament to Joe, because it's difficult when you're such a physical player like Joe to go that long without receiving a booking, it's difficult but credit to him. Thankfully, now we've avoided that deadline and Joe is free to be Joelinton.”
Joelinton could still be banned for Newcastle United
While Joelinton has avoided a two-match ban this season, there is still a small chance he could be handed a three-match ban at the start of next season. The only way that would happen is if he were to pick up a yellow card in each of Newcastle’s remaining six Premier League matches.
That would take him up to 15 yellow cards for the season which brings with it a three-match ban that would carry into the 2025-26 season. But that would mean the Newcastle midfielder setting a new Premier League record for bookings in a season, which currently stands at 14.
So all he has to do to avoid such a punishment is not get booked against Aston Villa.
Newcastle United face Aston Villa in Champions League qualification battle
Joelinton’s availability for Saturday’s trip to Villa Park will be welcome for Newcastle as they look to make it seven wins in a row in all competitions. The Magpies have named the same starting line-up with Joelinton in it in each of the last six matches with all six ending in wins.
The Brazilian has formed a crucial part of Newcastle’s three-man midfield alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, which has been labelled as arguably ‘the best’ in the Premier League.
Newcastle head into Saturday’s game sitting third in the Premier League table, five points ahead of Aston Villa in seventh. The Magpies beat Villa 3-0 at St James’ Park back in December and won 3-1 at Villa Park last season.