As the Premier League season draws to a close, tensions are running high with several outcomes still up in the air. It’s sure to be an explosive finale....CONTINUE READING
The competition has witnessed a remarkable feat as the yellow card count of last season’s top player has been exceeded with ample time remaining in the current season. The current season has witnessed a significant decrease in the number of sendings-off.
However, some players have been fortunate enough to avoid punishment, while a few teams have managed to keep a clean slate with no player being dismissed so far, despite all 20 teams receiving at least one red card in the previous season.
Ahead of the last round of fixtures, Mirror Football has looked at who has been the cleanest in the league and who has been the dirtiest. We’ve assigned each team a points score, with one point for a yellow and two for a red, based on numbers from the official Premier League site.
20. West Ham, 43 points (43+0)
West Ham picked up three red cards last season, with the first of them arriving in just the fourth game of the season. They have a clean slate this term, though, and no team has fewer yellow cards either.
19. Man City, 45 (43+2)
Manchester City’s only dismissal came in November, with Joao Cancelo sent off for a foul on Fulham’s Harry Wilson. The champions still found a way to win that game, though, thanks to an Erling Haaland effort in second-half stoppage time.
18. Arsenal, 52 (52+0)
It won’t be much consolation to Arsenal after their failed title push, but they’re one game away from going a full season without a red card. Last season, that dream was over within two-and-a-half games when Granit Xhaka saw red against Manchester City in a 5-0 loss.
17. Brentford, 53 (51+2)
Brentford have only picked up one red card, and it was for two bookings. Shandon Baptiste was the unlucky man, earning his marching orders in the final minute of a draw with Leicester.
16. Brighton, 53 (53+0)
High-flying Brighton have avoided a dismissal, though they have averaged more than one and a half yellows per game. Moises Caicedo leads the way in that department with nine bookings, while his fellow in-demand midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has eight.
15. Liverpool, 57 (55+2)
Liverpool’s first red card of the season came very early in the campaign, with Darwin Nunez shown a straight red against Crystal Palace. The Reds have been well-behaved since, though.
14. Leicester, 62 (58+4)
Leicester’s struggles haven’t been exclusively down to their disciplinary record, but the two red cards haven’t helped. While the game against Chelsea was already lost before Wout Faes’ dismissal, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s sending-off against Aston Villa was more damaging after the visitors’ late winner against 10 men.
13. Newcastle, 62 (62+2)
Leicester’s opponents on Monday night went into the game close to their opponents in this table, albeit far away in the real one. Nick Pope’s red against Liverpool cost the keeper a chance to play at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final, though another red – for Kieran Trippier against Man City – was downgraded to a yellow.
12. Bournemouth, 66 (66+0)
With the Premier League season approaching its final weekend and a few things still on the line, tempers could be flared for the finale.
No player in the competition got more than 11 yellow cards last season, but that total has already been surpassed with time to spare.
There have been far fewer sendings-off, though, with some players deemed lucky to escape punishment while several teams are yet to have a player dismissed after all 20 had at least one red card last term.
Ahead of the last round of fixtures, Mirror Football has looked at who has been the cleanest in the league and who has been the dirtiest. We’ve assigned each team a points score, with one point for a yellow and two for a red, based on numbers from the official Premier League site.
11. Southampton, 73 (73+0)
Relegated Southampton can at least salvage some pride by going down without a red card. Three yellows in the final game against Liverpool. however, would see them average exactly two yellows per match.
10. Aston Villa, 78 (76+2)
Villa picked up three red cards last season, but have brought that down to one this term while recording a similar number of yellows. Liverpool fans will feel it should be at least two, though, after the controversy involving Tyrone Mings’ challenge on Cody Gakpo.
8. Man Utd, 80 (76+4)
Chelsea’s season didn’t get off to the best of starts, with Kalidou Koulibaly and Conor Gallagher both handed red card suspensions before the end of August.
The Blues made several new additions in January in an effort to salvage their season, but one of them – Portugal forward Joao Felix – was dismissed just 58 minutes into his debut.
4. Everton, 82 (78+4)
Everton picked up six red cards last season, so the good news is that they’ve reduced that number, though their yellow card tally is exactly the same as last term with a game remaining.
Abdoulaye Doucoure earned one of this season’s, in an April game which also saw Spurs’ Lucas sent off, while Mason Holgate earned two yellows against Crystal Palace later in the same month.
4=. Nottingham Forest (82+0)
No team has more yellows without a red this season than Forest, who average more than two per game. Steve Cooper’s side have been sharing the cards around, though Renan Lodi and Neco Williams lead the way at club level with seven apiece.
After only seeing one player dismissed last season, Palace have upped the tally to three this term. Summer signing Cheick Doucoure picked up one of the reds, against Aston Villa in March, with Tyrick Mitchell and James Tomkins the other culprits – both in the Boxing Day defeat against Fulham.
Leeds, 87 (81+6)
Leeds had more yellows than anyone else in the league last season, so have at least improved in that regard. Two of this season’s dismissals have gone to summer signings – Luis Sinisterra against Aston Villa and Tyler Adams against Spurs – while Junior Firpo completed the set with his second booking in the recent draw with Newcastle.
Wolves, 96 (84+12)
The stats aren’t pretty for Wolves, who have twice as many reds as any other Premier League side. At least one will feel harsh, with manager Julen Lopetegui furious with the dismissal of Mario Lemina against Southampton, and Lemina’s fellow summer signing Diego Costa was also one of six separate recipients of an early bath this season.NYSC Portal
