Newcastle could exploit bizarre 'loophole' vs Crystal Palace in their hunt for Champions League football

Newcastle United are flying. After collecting their first major trophy for 70 years, the Magpies have set about the hunt for a shiny Champions League spot.

Newcastle thumped Man Utd on Sunday in the absence of manager Eddie Howe, who was hospitalised last week after feeling ill for several days.

Their Conference League play-off spot is secure and the focus has shifted back to climbing the table and qualifying for the Champions League.

They're well placed. Howe's team sit in fourth place, a point behind Nottingham Forest and a point ahead of Manchester City with a game in hand on both.

Newcastle face Crystal Palace at St James' Park on Wednesday and the match will take both teams past the 32-game mark, which has some implications for team selection and player availability in subsequent weeks.

Under Premier League rules, any player who receives ten yellow cards in their team's first 32 league matches of the season will be given an automatic two-match suspension.

After game 32, which is now the number played by the majority of Premier League teams after the current round of fixtures, yellow cards are wiped out and even players on nine yellows get a clean slate for the run-in.

Newcastle have one player with nine yellow cards to his name and he's a big one in every sense of the word.

If Joelinton is cautioned against Palace, he will miss Newcastle's next two matches against Aston Villa and Ipswich Town.

According to Newcastle World there's a loophole to consider, albeit one that's extremely unlikely to appeal in a sport where deliberately incurring disciplinary action is both frowned upon and vanishingly rare.

Joelinton is on nine yellow cards. Image: Alamy

"Avoid a yellow card and Joelinton is no longer at risk of an immediate ban," reports Newcastle World.

"Incredibly, Joelinton would be better off picking up two yellow cards and therefore being red carded versus Palace.

"The midfielder would have technically received his 10th and 11th booking of the season but because it equalled in a red card, his yellow card count would return to nine."

The report doesn't specify the benefit of that outcome, so allow us.

If Joelinton were to pick up a straight red card against the Eagles, he would get the minimum mandatory three-match ban.

If the Brazilian were to get booked for the tenth time, he would be given the aforementioned automatic two-match ban.

But if he happened to be sent off for two bookable offences, yellow becomes red and a one-match ban would likely apply. Because it's Newcastle's 32nd match, Joelinton's yellow card count staying at nine would mean it's wiped out.

It seems like a lot of work to make sure Joelinton is available against Ipswich, but you never know.