The three players who could miss Brentford vs Leeds United due to Premier League suspension rule
Leeds United face Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium after Saturday's meeting with Liverpool.
Forward Kevin Schade is one of two Brentford stars who risk missing next weekend’s meeting with Leeds United through suspension.
Leeds head to the Gtech Community Stadium next weekend, although focus in West Yorkshire is solely on Saturday’s visit of Liverpool to Elland Road. Daniel Farke’s side produced their best performance of the season to beat Chelsea 3-1 on Wednesday courtesy of goals from Jaka Bijol, Ao Tanaka and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Having performed so well against Chelsea, Leeds will fancy their chances of getting a result on Saturday and so could be heading to Brentford next weekend outside the bottom three. The Bees have been in good form recently and sit 13th but could be without one or two key players due to suspension.
FA suspension rules state any player who accumulates five yellow cards before the end of their team’s 19th Premier League game will serve an automatic one-match ban. After the midway point of the campaign that threshold increases to 10 bookings, with the punishment also increasing to two games.
Schade has been on four yellow cards since early November but is yet to pick up that decisive fifth, escaping further punishment in his last four games. Centre-back Nathan Collins is also walking the suspension tightrope and has been doing so for the same amount of time.
Brentford lost 2-0 at Arsenal on Wednesday evening and remain in North London this weekend, with Tottenham Hotspur their hosts. Should either Schade or Collins pick up a yellow card in that fixture, they will be forced to sit out next weekend’s meeting with Leeds at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Schade has been an integral part of Brentford’s attack this season, registering three goals and one assist in 14 appearances - only 11-goal top-scorer Igor Thiago has more direct contributions. Collins, meanwhile, has started 13 of the Bees’ 14 Premier League games at centre-back so far.
Leeds United’s Ethan Ampadu also facing ban risk
Leeds also have one key player walking the suspension tightrope ahead of next weekend’s meeting at the Gtech Community Stadium. Like Schade and Collins, midfielder Ethan Ampadu is one booking away from a ban having picked up his fourth yellow card at home to Aston Villa last month.
Ampadu came through last weekend’s defeat at Manchester City and Wednesday’s fiery 3-1 win over Chelsea without picking up that decisive fifth caution. The Welshman can therefore feature against Liverpool on Saturday but should he go into the referee’s book, he will be forced to sit out Brentford.
Of the Leeds squad, only Ampadu is one booking away from a ban while Jayden Bogle is on three yellow cards and therefore two away from suspension. Pascal Struijk, Anton Stach, Noah Okafor and Willy Gnonto have all been cautioned twice, with five more fixtures to get through before the threshold increases to 10.
Leeds will of course be solely focused on Liverpool this weekend, with attention not turning to Brentford until Sunday morning. The Whites then host Crystal Palace the following week in what is their final game before Christmas.