Two Chelsea players could miss Crystal Palace fixture this weekend because of Premier League rule
Chelsea face Ipswich Town on Monday night with two players needing to avoid yellow cards
Chelsea are back in Premier League action on Monday night as they look for a return to winning ways when they travel to relegation-threatened Ipswich Town. The Blues have drawn 0-0 with Everton and lost 2-1 to Fulham in their last two Premier League outings, in a pair of results that has dented their title hopes.
Rivals Liverpool laid down another marker on Sunday evening as they won 5-0 at West Ham United to move eight points clear ahead at the top of the table. Arsenal and Chelsea still have games to play this week but all three title rivals have now played the same number of matches after a previous Liverpool fixture against Merseyside rivals Everton was postponed due to severe weather.
Ipswich sit four points adrift of safety ahead of facing Chelsea and will be desperate to get some points on the board after a resurgent Wolves side secured a late 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur to make it two wins and a draw since Vítor Pereira’s arrival as manager. Chelsea have not played Ipswich since a 7-0 FA Cup win for the Blues back in January 2011 while they also met in the competition in January 2009 - a fixture Chelsea won 3-1. Their last Premier League meeting was in April 2002 and ended 0-0.
Chelsea stars at risk of suspension against Ipswich
Two of Chelsea’s stars will be walking a suspension tightrope against the Tractor Boys with Nicolas Jackson and Robert Sánchez both on four yellow cards for the season. The pair are regular starters for the Blues and have been relied upon heavily by Enzo Maresca in his first five months in charge. Jackson has scored nine goals and provided three assists in 17 games. He has missed just one Premier League outing this season while Sánchez has made the same number of appearances. He has kept four clean sheets and saved one penalty but has been guilty of three errors leading to goals.
If either of the pair are booked against Ipswich, they will be forced to sit out Saturday’s visit to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Premier League rules state that any player who receives a total of five yellow cards in a club’s first 19 games will be banned for one match. The good news for the duo is that Chelsea’s 19th game of the season is against Ipswich, so if they are able to stay out of the referee’s book against Ipswich the slate will be wiped clean. Although they should still avoid picking up more yellow cards as any player booked 10 times within a club’s first 32 games will be banned for two matches.
Enzo Maresca wants to end year on a high
Chelsea have a big number of players on three yellow cards with the likes of Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Levi Colwill all edging towards the suspension tightrope. However, as mentioned the slate will be wiped clean after the clash against Ipswich meaning a number of key players will avoid bans unless they are red carded at Portman Road.
Despite Ipswich sitting second from bottom, Maresca is in no mood to take them lightly. He said: “All the Premier League games are complicated, no matter who the other team is. Every game we play is complicated, and you also see how you can struggle to beat teams. That’s because every match in the Premier League is difficult. The Ipswich game will be exactly the same. Kieran McKenna is doing fantastic. Since he joined Ipswich a few years ago, they are doing top. Even this year they are doing well. I would like to say congratulations to him for the job he is doing ever since he joined the club.
“It’s very important [to build momentum]. We are going to try to prepare for the game in the way we always try to, which is to win the game. We have bad feelings about the last game we lost against Fulham, and hopefully we can come back with three points after this game.”