Ainsley Maitland-Niles picked up a red card for two bookings against Aston Villa on Sunday, leading to some confusion over his suspension.

Usually, a red card for a second yellow results in a one-match ban for a club’s next fixture, but Arsenal’s next game was in the League Cup against Nottingham Forest. As a result, some fans were confused about whether he served the suspension in that game or the next Premier League game against Manchester United.

To clarify, red cards (even for two yellows) result in suspensions that carry across all domestic competitions. Receiving a red in a Premier League match leaves you suspended in the League Cup or vice-versa, depending on your next fixture.

There was a rule change in 2018 around accumulation of yellows that’s causing some of the confusion. If you receive a suspension for cautions in multiple matches, that only counts towards the competition you received the yellows in, it doesn’t carry across.

For example, five Premier League yellows in the first 19 games leads to a one-game PL suspension, even if your next match is in the League Cup.

Since that’s not the case here, Maitland-Niles was suspended for Nottingham Forest, not Manchester United.

That has been confirmed by The FA, who have him listed on their website as suspended until 24th September.

First published 23 September 2019