Fabregas suspension planned in advance

Arsenal wrapped up a 3-1 victory at Reading yesterday on a bit of a sour note.

Cesc Fabregas, undoubtedly Arsenal's most influential player this season, was booked for the fifth time this season, resulting in a one match suspension.

Could it have been done on purpose?

To answer that question we should look at Arsenal's next few Premiership fixtures:

11/24 vs Wigan
12/1 @ Aston Villa
12/5 @ Newcastle
12/9 @ Middlesbrough
12/16 vs Chelsea
12/22 vs Tottenham
12/26 @ Portsmouth
12/29 @ Everton
1/1 vs West Ham

Of these eight fixtures, one stands out as by far the easiest: at home to Wigan. Of the remaining seven, only three are home fixtures (Chelsea and West Ham are nothing to laugh at), and only three (Newcastle, Middlesbrough, and Tottenham) are against bottom half teams. Of those three teams, Middlesbrough is the only team likely to face a relegation battle this season, with Newcastle and Tottenham both looking to challenge for European spots.

As a midfielder on four yellows, Fabregas was likely to get suspended eventually, and there would be no better game to lose him for than Wigan.

But would Fabregas stoop so low as to purposely get suspended?

The manner in which the yellow card occurred would lead me to venture a guess that he would.

My first reaction to the yellow was disappointment - how could our midfield maestro be so immature?

Truth be told, it may have just been another brilliant execution by Cesc Fabregas.

The midfielder held onto Fae's shirt for a good couple of seconds, so blatantly that even a blind refferree would be forced to book him. Nobody expects to get away with that.

Still, though, I was unsure.

The look on the player's face said it all though. No disappointment, no real argument... he had done it on purpose.

All he did was earn himself a well-deserved break...

Arsenal's Internationals: Who will be in action this week

William Gallas, Bacary Sagna, Lassana Diarra, Abou Diaby - Gallas and Sagna have both been called up for Raymond Domenech's France squad for this week's European Qualifiers against Scotland and Wold Cup winners Italy. However, with Gallas suffering from a groin injury and Sagna from a back injury, it is unlikely that either will see playing time. Lassana Diarra is likely to play at least some part of both games. Abou Diaby has been called up for France's U21 games against Malta and Wales and is likely to feature in both fixtures.

Kolo Toure, Emanuel Eboue - Toure and Eboue were selected for the Ivory Coast's African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Gabon which is to be played later today.

Robin van Persie - The Dutch striker (and Holland's top scorer in Euro Qualifying) was called up for the Netherlands' qualifying games against Bulgaria and Albania this week.

Tomas Rosicky - The Czech captain has been called up to represent the Czech's in their qualifying matches against San Marino and the Republic of Ireland.

Alex Hleb - The pacy midfielder is likely to start for Belarus in their tricky tie against Romania as well as the game with Slovenia. He will likely be a big factor in his side's Euro 2008 qualifying hopes.

Jens Lehmann - The error prone German 'keeper has been assured by Germany coach Joachim Low that he will maintain his starting spot over Oliver Kahn for Germany's Qualifier against Wales and friendly against Romania.

Eduardo da Silva - Eduardo will most likely be started in both of Croatia's games, facing Estonia and Andorra in Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Philippe Senderos - Since the Swiss are co-hosting Euro 2008 they don't have to go through qualifying rounds, but Philippe Senderos has been called up to play an international friendly against Japan on September 11.

Nicklas Bendtner - Bendtner is set to feature for Denmark against Sweden and Lichtenstein this week, although he will most likely start both games on the bench.

Theo Walcott - Walcott has been selected for England's U21 games against Montenegro and Bulgaria, and the young forward will be hoping to play some part in helping England to qualify for the U21 European Cup in 2009.

Be sure to watch some of these intriguing fixtures and follow your favorite Arsenal players!