Football Acca Tips: 466/1 Premier League cards five-fold

Welcome to the first edition of my Premier League Cards column, where I will be picking out five players from England's top flight who I think could all be scribbled into the referee's notebook this weekend.

Read below for my Football Acca Tips, with this five-fold coming to a whopping 466/1...

Joao Palhinha (Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur, Saturday 15:00 BST) @ 7/4

Joao Palhinha was only a late substitute in Tottenham's 1-0 win over Villarreal in the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday, but after starting the north London side's last three Premier League games, I'm expecting him to return from the beginning against Brighton on Saturday.

The on-loan Bayern Munich midfielder is yet to be booked for Spurs, but in two Premier League campaigns with Fulham, in 2023/23 and 2023/24, he was shown 14 and 13 yellow cards, respectively.

Palhinha has committed a foul in three of his four top-flight outings this term and gave away two free-kicks in Spurs' first Champions League game in midweek, despite only coming on in the 69th minute.

Football Odds

At the Amex Stadium this weekend, the 30-year-old, who was booked in Portugal's 3-2 victory over Hungary on September 9, could be tasked with containing the talents of Seagulls star Georginio Rutter, who operates as the South Coast side's No. 10.

Rutter has been fouled six times across three Premier League appearances this season, drawing yellow-card challenges from Manchester City left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and AFC Bournemouth centre-back Marcos Senesi, and the Frenchman could add Palhinha to his list of victims on Saturday.

Josh Cullen (Burnley vs Nottingham Forest, Saturday 15:00 BST) @ 3/1

Burnley midfielder Josh Cullen has been booked 8+ times in each of his three full league seasons at Burnley, including nine times in the 2023/24 Premier League campaign and 11 times in the 2024/25 EFL Championship.

The 29-year-old hasn't been carded yet in this season's top flight, but he was shown a yellow in the Republic of Ireland's 2-2 draw with Hungary on September 6.

Today's Football Fixtures

At Turf Moor on Saturday, Cullen is likely to be in close proximity to Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson, who was fouled, on average, 1.6 times p/g in last season's Premier League, and is up to 1.8 p/g already this term.

There's also Swiss winger Dan Ndoye, fouled 3.4 times p/g, on average, for Bologna in the 2024/25 Serie A campaign, to consider, as well as attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White (1.2 p/g last season).

Joelinton (AFC Bournemouth vs Newcastle United, Sunday 14:00 BST) @ 7/4

Newcastle's Joelinton mustn't be a fan of Bournemouth, having received four yellows in seven Premier League appearances against the Cherries. Have you never tried Cameo on a Friday night, mate?

The Brazilian avoided a booking in his first two matches against Bournemouth, but has been carded in four of the last five head-to-heads in the league, including both meetings last season.

Joelinton has been handed a yellow twice already this term, on the opening weekend against Aston Villa, and in the Champions League on Thursday against Barcelona.

The 29-year-old was cautioned 10 times in the league last season, averaging two fouls per game, and is an obvious candidate to go into the referee's notebook this weekend.

Premier League Odds

Granit Xhaka (Sunderland vs Aston Villa, Sunday 14:00 BST) @ 23/10

Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka picked up his first card for the Black Cats in their last home game, a 2-1 victory over Brentford on August 30, and he's committed exactly one foul in all four league outings so far.

The 32-year-old received 10 yellows in four of his seven Premier League campaigns with Arsenal before leaving for Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2023, and across two Bundesliga seasons, he was cautioned eight times.

Sunday's visitors to the Stadium of Light, Aston Villa, have two midfielders who are particularly proficient in drawing fouls.

Morgan Rogers averaged 1.4 fouls won per Premier League game last season, and has been upended four times in as many matches this term.

John McGinn, meanwhile, averaged two fouls won p/g in 2024/25 and has been taken down five times so far in the current campaign; Everton's Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was booked for fouling the Scot last weekend.

Jurrien Timber (Manchester City vs Arsenal, Sunday 16:30 BST) @ 18/5

Arsenal right-back Jurrien Timber was booked in the 25th minute of last season's corresponding fixture for a foul on Man City's left-winger, Savinho, and at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, he'll likely have to deal with flying Belgian forward Jeremy Doku, who has starred in recent weeks.

Doku, who has been fouled five times across two Premier League starts this season, was taken down four times in last weekend's Manchester derby, and against Napoli on Thursday, he won three free-kicks, with Italian winger Matteo Politano booked for one offence on him. The visiting side's right-back, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, was also sent off for taking down Erling Haaland.

Three right-backs and two right-sided centre-backs have been booked against Man City this season, despite the Citizens playing just five times across two competitions.

Timber, shown nine yellows for Arsenal in 2024/25 (seven in the Premier League), and booked on the opening weekend against City's local rivals, Man United, could be the next name on that list.

Offers

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down.

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