Bernardo Silva continues to walk a disciplinary tightrope as Manchester City’s crunch clash with Arsenal looms, having picked up his ninth yellow card of the season.
The City captain started and played 75 minutes of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with West Ham in the Premier League, picking up a caution late in the first half for a foul on Mateus Fernandes shortly after his opening goal at the London Stadium had been cancelled out by Konstantinos Mavropanos.
That was the 13th time that Silva has been booked across all competitions so far this season, with nine of those coming in the Premier League, three in the Champions League and one in the Carabao Cup.
Under current top-flight rules, any player who receives 10 yellow cards in games up to and including their side's 32nd fixture will serve an automatic two-match league suspension. Cautions in domestic cups do not count towards that tally.
City have played 30 league games so far this season, meaning that Silva has two matches now in which to avoid another booking.
Pep Guardiola’s side do not return to Premier League action until April 12, when they travel to meet Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
That game is followed by the visit of title rivals Arsenal to the Etihad Stadium in a huge clash on April 19.
City first face a daunting task to attempt to overturn a 3-0 deficit against Real Madrid in the home second leg of their high-profile Champions League last-16 tie, before taking on Arsenal initially in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
Liverpool are the visitors to the Etihad on April 4 following the international break in a blockbuster FA Cup quarter-final showdown.
Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo, Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk and Wolves duo Andre and Yerson Mosquera are the other players currently on nine yellow cards in the Premier League, with eight more on eight cautions.
City’s draw with West Ham came after Arsenal’s late show to beat Everton 2-0 and they now find themselves nine points adrift in the title race with eight matches to play and a game in hand on the leaders.
