Aston Villa have three players who are currently one yellow card away from a suspension in the Europa Conference League going into Thursday’s quarter-final first leg tie against Lille.
John McGinn, Moussa Diaby and Matty Cash are all a booking away from missing next week’s second leg or the first leg of the semi-final if they pick up their third caution of the European campaign next week and Villa advance in the competition.
Cash is injured for Thursday’s home clash with Lille and is a doubt to feature next week too, but McGinn and Diaby are both treading a disciplinary tightrope. Meanwhile, Ezri Konsa has also collected two bookings, but because both were brandished in the same game and the second booking subsequently led to his sending off at Ajax, he remains two bookings away from another one-match ban.
UEFA Europa Conference League rules state: “From the first match in the group stage, players and team officials are suspended for the next competition match after three cautions, which did not result in a red card, as well as following any subsequent odd-numbered caution (fifth, seventh, ninth, etc.).”
Because of the UEFA’s suspension laws, Nicolo Zaniolo missed last month’s second leg win over Ajax, having received his third European booking in the first leg. The Italian is the only player who could get a suspension for five yellows, if booked in both legs against Lille this month.
All yellow cards are then wiped from the start of the semi-final stage. That means a single yellow card for a player in one leg of a semi-final cannot lead to them being suspended for the final should Villa qualify.
Besides Zaniolo, Cash, Konsa, McGinn and Diaby, no player is on more than one booking. In total, seven Villa players are on one booking and can only get banned with a caution in both legs against French side Lille.
Nicolo Zaniolo – 3
Matty Cash, John McGinn, Moussa Diaby, Ezri Konsa – 2
Clement Lenglet, Youri Tielemans, Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins, Jhon Duran, Morgan Rogers – 1
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