Joelinton staring down the barrel of two-match ban but is also 90 minutes away from clean slate

Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton has done well to avoid picking up his 10th booking of the season having been sat on nine since the start of February.

Joelinton's last booking came in the 2-1 defeat to Fulham on 1st February putting him on nine for the season meaning that one more would result in a two-game ban.

The Brazilian missed the next three games through injury but has started four games since recovering and has managed to keep his nose clean in each game ... just.

After allegedly telling Manuel Ugarte he'd see him in the tunnel on Sunday as he was leaving the field, he was perhaps a bit lucky to escape any further action beyond being led off the field by Bruno Guimaraes.

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Joelinton just needs to be a good boy for another 90 minutes

Joelinton only has to make it through tonight's game at Crystal Palace without having his name taken by the referee and then he's off the tightrope.

The counter resets after game 32 meaning he can go wild after this game. Although should he pick up a booking in each of the remaining games, that would make for 15 yellows and that brings with it a three-match ban which would roll over to next season.

This is a familiar situation for Newcastle as it was Bruno Guimaraes walking the disciplinary tightrope last season, but he had more games to hang on than Joelinton. Bruno managed to avoid the two-game ban, and will no doubt be keeping Joelinton's temper down to help him avoid another yellow.

A tactical sending-off could reduce Joelinton's suspension

Thanks to the Premier League's rules, Joelinton could pick up a booking tonight and avoid a two-match ban by picking up another yellow and getting sent off.

Being sent off for two bookings only carries with it a one-match ban, and under the rules, the initial yellow would be wiped out from the record and it would just go down as a red card, keeping him on nine as the counter resets.

So if the Brazilian is booked during tonight's game, we may see him yank someone back in the most obvious fashion late on to get himself sent off.

Obviously, let's just hope he stays on the referee's good side and avoids any kind of suspension.