Arsenal officially the 'dirtiest' team in the Premier League

12:39pm on Thursday 9th July 2020
By Martin Macdonald

Arsenal officially have the worst disciplinary record in the Premier League this season after picking up a remarkable 73 bookings and five red cards.

Earlier this week, Eddie Nketiah was sent off for the Gunners just moments after coming on in the 1-1 draw against Leicester. After initially being shown a yellow, VAR intervened and correctly overturned the decision, with him going flying into the shin of James Justin with his studs raised.

That was, incredibly, the fourth dismissal for Arsenal since Mikael Arteta took over, in just 16 matches.

Prior to that, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was sent off against Crystal Palace, with David Luiz being shown red twice against Chelsea and then again against Manchester City.

Arsenal also have the worst record for yellow cards, having been shown 73 in 34 matches - 2.14 on average per game.

Second to them are Watford, who have received 68 yellows and three reds.

The team with the best disciplinary record in the English top-flight is Liverpool, who have been shown 31 yellows and just one red after Alisson was dismissed against Brighton back in November.

FAIR PLAY TABLE

Disciplinary points match stats

Rank	Team	Games	Yellows	Reds	Points
1	Liverpool	33	31	1	134
2	Leicester	33	37	1	158
3	Southampton	33	44	4	220
4	Chelsea	34	56	0	224
5	Crystal Palace	34	53	1	224
6	Brighton	33	51	2	226
7	Wolves	33	52	2	228
8	Man Utd	33	59	0	236
9	Sheff Utd	33	54	2	238
10	West Ham	33	58	1	242
11	Burnley	33	61	0	244
12	Aston Villa	33	60	1	250
13	Newcastle Utd	33	57	3	262
14	Everton	33	59	3	266
15	Norwich	34	64	1	268
16	Man City	33	58	4	272
17	Bournemouth	33	66	3	294
18	Tottenham	33	68	3	294
19	Watford	34	68	3	302
20	Arsenal	34	73	5	346

*Caution = 4 points

*Denial of a goal scoring opportunity or dismissal for 2 cautions = 10 points

*Violent conduct, serious foul play, spitting or offensive and abusive language = 12 points

Not only are Arsenal last in the Fair Play rankings, but by some distance too as they have accumulated 44 points more than the second 'dirtiest' team, Watford.

There are only three teams in the entire league who are yet to have a player sent off this season - Chelsea, Man Utd, and Burnley.

Although it doesn't necessarily paint the whole picture, the table does appear to show that teams who are having what they would call successful seasons are near the top of the rankings. Liverpool in first have just won the Premier League for the first time in their history, while Leicester are in with a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League,

However, the exception to this could be Man City, who are second in the Premier League table yet down in 16th in the Fair Play table.

officialfootballcritic

Follow @criticfootball_