Bruno Guimaraes avoids Newcastle United ban v Arsenal amid red card claim & controversy

Newcastle United will have Bruno Guimaraes available for Saturday night's Premier League visit to Arsenal as he continues to manage the threat of a two-match suspension.

The Brazilian picked up his ninth Premier League yellow card of the campaign during the 3-2 defeat to Manchester City on January 13 but avoided a caution in the four league matches since.

A 10th booking before Tottenham Hotspur visit St James' Park on March 13 will result in an automatic two-match ban, meaning Guimaraes will have to stay out of trouble in each of Newcastle's next seven league matches

It still seems inevitable that United will lose the 26-year-old in the coming weeks but his involvement against the Gunners will come as a major boost ahead of what is a mammoth challenge.

Newcastle beat Arsenal 1-0 at St James' Park in November but the game was steeped in controversy after the Premier League's Independent Key Match Incidents Panel ruled that Anthony Gordon's winning goal was right to stand - but pointed out two missed red cards, including one for Guimaraes.

Gordon’s 64th-minute strike was subjected to three separate VAR checks. The first check was to see if Joe Willock had kept the ball in play in the build-up, the second was to whether Joelinton had fouled Gabriel and the third was for an offside on Gordon.

Neither referee Stuart Attwell nor VAR official Andy Madley could find any conclusive evidence to disallow the goal. Mikel Arteta branded the decision an "absolute disgrace" while the Gunners issued a statement 24 hours later backing their manager.

The Premier League's Independent Key Match Incidents Panel is made up of five members, including three former players and/or coaches, plus one representative each from the Premier League and PGMOL.

And their findings, as documented by ESPN, said on a 4-1 vote that "although Joelinton does have his hands on Gabriel, there isn't enough to award a foul as Gabriel had made an action to play the ball before any contact". For the possible 'ball out of play' and 'possible offside' check, the panel stated there wasn't enough proof to disallow the goal on the two factual offences.

Despite Arsenal's outrage, the panel was unanimous that the visitors were lucky to keep 11 men on the field when Kai Havertz flew into a tackle on Sean Longstaff in the first half. They deemed "it was "a very dangerous challenge and the type of tackle that needs to be eradicated".

But Newcastle also got away with one with three members of the panel believing that Guimaraes should have been sent off moments later for striking Jorginho's head with his forearm. The Brazilian was shown his fifth yellow card of the season in the latter stages and missed the 2-0 defeat away to AFC Bournemouth a week later.