Against Aston Villa on Sunday, Diogo Dalot received his fifth yellow card of the season so far. In line with Premier League rules, he will now miss Manchester United's final game before the World Cup break against Fulham.
It was the cherry on top of an awful cake for United who were well beaten 3-1 by Aston Villa on the day. Goals from Leon Bailey, Lucas Digne and Jacob Ramsey sealed their fate. It wasn't just the result that Erik ten Hag will be disappointed in but the performance as well.
But what has confused some United fans is that Dalot will be suspended for the fixture at Craven Cottage, but Joao Cancelo, who received a red card against Fulham in Manchester City's 2-1 win last weekend, will be available for City's home game against Brentford on Saturday.
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That is because, unlike Dalot, Cancelo was able to see out his suspension in the Carabao Cup game against Chelsea on Wednesday night.
The ruling for which Dalot has been suspended applies specifically to the Premier League. The rule states that any player who collects five bookings from their side’s first 19 Premier League matches will serve a one-match ban in the same competition.
This means that Dalot's suspension can not carry over into United's EFL fixture, also against Aston Villa, meaning he will likely feature in that game before having an extra break ahead of heading to the World Cup with Portugal.
Red cards, meanwhile, fall under the FA's ruling, meaning Cancelo's ban applied to all domestic competitions rather than just the Premier League.
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