Harry Kane is one of nearly a dozen players expected to feature at the World Cup who could be suspended for the final round of Premier League fixtures before the tournament.
The Tottenham striker will captain the Three Lions in Qatar after a brilliant start to the season during which he has scored 10 goals in 13 league games. He has also been fairly active when it comes to yellow cards, picking up four.
Kane is one of 20 players to have accumulated this number and another yellow for any of those walking the tightrope will mean they are suspended for next weekend's top-flight encounters. Of this group, 11 players have realistic aims of being named in their country's World Cup squads.
Managers have already been forced to defend their squads and insist there will be no let-up in intensity in response to speculation players may look to save themselves for the tournament. However, as highlighted by the Daily Mail, a convenient excuse to have a breather before jetting to the Middle East would be a suspension for the final round of fixtures.
A yellow card for Kane as Spurs host Liverpool on Sunday will mean he is unavailable to face Leeds United next weekend. The 29-year-old was booked in the corresponding fixture against the Reds last season.
Among the other players who are on four yellow cards and are expected to feature at the World Cup are: Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham/Uruguay), Diogo Dalot ( Manchester United /Portugal), Gabriel Jesus ( Arsenal /Brazil), William Saliba (Arsenal/France), Thilo Kehrer ( West Ham /Germany), Alexis Mac Allister ( Brighton /Argentina), Chris Mepham ( Bournemouth /Wales), Aleksandar Mitrovic ( Fulham /Serbia), Amadou Onana ( Everton /Belgium) and Fabian Schar ( Newcastle /Switzerland).
Will we see some tactical yellow cards this weekend? Have your say in the comments...
As well as giving players the chance to recharge their batteries ahead of the World Cup, a suspension at this stage would negate the chance of suffering a cruel injury on the eve of the tournament, which gets underway on 20 November. A number of big names from across Europe have already been ruled out, including Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell, who recently succumbed to injury.
Meanwhile, Spurs boss Antonio Conte has had to stand up for Cristian Romero, who has come under fire for being ruled out until the World Cup, where he is expected to start Argentina's opening game. "About Romero I can tell you that for him, if I ask the possibility to play with one leg, he wants to play with one leg," Conte said.
"For this reason, I tell the fans we have players really committed for the club and maybe Romero, he had an injury because he wanted to risk and we wanted to take the risk. Then he had this injury but for sure many teams are having big injuries and this is because we are playing every three days."
