Sunderland face one of the tougher assignments of this busy Premier League midweek, travelling to Merseyside to take on Premier League champions Liverpool.
Some Sunderland fans have been looking beyond Wednesday’s fixture to the games ahead and have suggested that a little forward planning on the disciplinary front might work counter-intuitively in the Black Cats’ favour.
There’s even an argument that two of Sunderland’s players would actually benefit from being shown the yellow card at Anfield.
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Why two yellow cards wouldn’t be such a bad thing for Sunderland
Granit Xhaka arrived as new Sunderland captain in the summer (Image credit: Getty Images)
The case for ‘tactical bookings’ for Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki against Liverpool is logically sound but entirely dismissive of the vindictiveness of the football gods when they feel they’re being played.
Both key players for Regis Le Bris, Sadiki and captain Xhaka have each been shown four yellow cards and are therefore one away from an automatic one-match suspension.
To Regis Le Bris, Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki, 2 Tactical Yellow Cards Tomorrow Night Please,Love From, All Sunderland Fans xxDecember 2, 2025
According to Premier League rules, any player who collects five bookings within their team’s first 19 fixtures of the season must serve a one-match ban.
If Xhaka and Sadiki were to be yellow carded against Liverpool, they’d miss Sunderland’s away fixture against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.
If they were to escape punishment for 90 minutes on Wednesday and then be booked at the Etihad Stadium, they’d miss the Wear-Tyne derby against Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, 14 December.
Le Bris has acknowledged that both players are expected to manage the situation appropriately but pointed out that he thinks the Sunderland squad is strong enough to deal with whatever derby day throws at them regardless.
Sunderland haven’t hosted rivals Newcastle in a league fixture for a decade. In October 2015, they won the derby 3-0 at the Stadium of Light.
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Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris (Image credit: Getty Images)
The two north-east clubs were drawn together in the third round of the FA Cup in 2023/24 and it was the Magpies on this occasion who ran out 3-0 winners at Sunderland thanks to two goals from Alexander Isak and an own goal scored by Black Cats defender Dan Ballard.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, it’s always best to let football take its course in these situations.
It’s understandable for supporters to want the strongest possible line-up to be available on derby day but trying to game the football universe is a fool’s errand.
Other players walking the same disciplinary tightrope in Premier League action on Wednesday include Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool. Conor Bradley is also on four bookings but will not feature in midweek due to injury.
Man City duo Bernardo Silva and Gianluigi Donnarumma will be in the same position when they face Sunderland, albeit without the temptation of cheating fate for a derby in the weeks ahead.
