On the cards: are soaring sendings-off a Premier League trend or an outlier?
It is the point in the year where many are considering handing out cards to friends, family and the milkman, but Premier League referees have taken the lead since August and distributed a record number, although none came with well wishes.
Last season a conservative 30 sendings-off were dished out in 380 matches and after 120 games this time the figure is only three fewer. Admittedly, 2022-23 was an outlier – in the previous four seasons there was an average of 45.5 dismissals – with the second fewest red cards in Premier League history and was not, it would appear, the start of a trend. If the rate of reds continues there will be 85 this season. The league record is 76, from 2005-06.
Figures have generally dropped in recent times as players have adapted to the modern age where dangerous tackles are frowned upon and a plethora of cameras makes getting away with things trickier. As recently as 2014-15 there were 71 red cards but this has calmed and from 2018-19 to 2021-22 there was a relative plateau of 47, 44, 48, 43 before last season’s drop.
There were no major rule changes over the summer, just the usual tweaks. The amount of players being given their marching orders for a second bookable offence has reached 14, one more than last season, as more minor infringements become costlier for teams.
Referees were instructed to clamp down on timewasting and dissent, which can explain some of the increase in yellow cards to a record at this stage of 552, and why James Trafford was booked in the 11th minute of Burnley’s match against Nottingham Forest for delaying a free-kick. Not all the uplift can be blamed on Chelsea’s summer signing Nicolas Jackson, who has racked up an impressive seven in 11 appearances, already receiving his first suspension, although it does help explain why Mauricio Pochettino’s side top the caution count with 40.
Of the 27 sendings-off, 12 have been for violent conduct or serious foul play, the other coming when Nottingham Forest’s Joe Worrall was deemed to have committed a professional foul at Old Trafford. Five of these have been the result of intervention of the Video Assistant Referees. They got off to a flyer for the season by explaining on opening night that Burnley’s Anass Zaroury needed to be sent off in injurytime for a lunge from behind on Kyle Walker. Start as you mean to go on.
Malo Gusto, Cristian Romero, Curtis Jones and Lyle Foster, another Burnley player, have joined Zaroury in falling foul of the cameras, with the referee forced to listen to the voice in his ear before dishing out the dreaded punishment. Last season VAR led to six red cards. The system is yet to overturn a red card in 2023-24; not even Alexis Mac Allister’s dismissal against Bournemouth, which was the subject of a successful appeal and rescinded, was seen in a different light at
Stockley Park. Last season VAR helped three players stay on the pitch, Gabriel, Kieran Trippier and Hakim Ziyech having the monitors to thank for avoiding an early bath.
One reason for the drop in reds last season is that officials were permitted to show greater leniency over aggressive tackles. This has not changed but cards are being served with greater regularity. Seventeen straight reds were dished out in 2022-23 but the tally has already reached 13 this season.
Fourteen clubs have had a player sent off, compared with 16 last season. Liverpool are the worst culprits with
four players seeing red in their opening 12 games, including Mac Allister’s overturned dismissal, which continues to count in the league’s statistics. Wolves had the worst disciplinary record last season, receiving six reds, which gives Liverpool something to chase. Jürgen Klopp’s side received a solitary red card on their way to finishing fifth in 2022-23, whereas this season they sit second, so this newfound aggression seems to be working overall.
A greater sample size will help to determine whether the league’s high card count is a coincidence. Those working in the Premier League seem to think it is and that there is no need to advise players to do anything differently. Everyone likes to see records broken but maybe with a little extra care from players this one can remain untouched.