Premier League yellow card storm: When the power belongs to the referee

 With just a wave of the hand or a harsh word to the match official, Premier League stars will immediately suffer the consequences.

The number of yellow cards in the Premier League this season has increased by 25% compared to the 2022/23 campaign and is reaching 4.5 cards/match - the highest ever. This is a consequence when referees handle players' overreactions as well as time-wasting errors more aggressively.

Sheffield United and Chelsea (49) are the two teams receiving the most yellow cards. They are followed by Wolverhampton Wanderers (45), Brighton & Hove Albion (43), Tottenham Hotspur (42), Aston Villa and Newcastle United (both 41).

In the opposite direction, Arsenal (21), Liverpool (28), Crystal Palace (29), Manchester City and Bournemouth (both 30) rarely received warnings from the referees.

The number of yellow cards of the teams is calculated before round 18

Average yellow card/match in the Premier League over seasons

Trends in the 2023/24 season

Tactical fouls and flagrant fouls resulted in the most yellow cards, with 1.49 and 1.28 cards per match respectively. Meanwhile, yellow cards for time-wasting and reaction errors have extremely high increases.

Last season, each match saw an average of only 0.24 yellow cards for time-wasting behavior. But after 17 rounds in the 2023/24 campaign, this number has jumped to 0.57 yellow cards/match, an increase of 135%.

Even yellow cards for reaction errors increased by 218%, from 0.23 to 0.72 cards/match. Recently, Diogo Dalot received 2 consecutive yellow cards in just ten seconds due to disagreement with the decision of referee Michael Oliver.

Increasing yellow cards means red cards also appear more often. If the current "speed" is maintained (37 red cards/17 rounds), the 2023/24 season will break the record with 83 red cards, much higher than the 2002/03 and 2005/06 seasons (with 75 red cards). .

Not only the players, many coaches have also been banned from coaching due to receiving 3 yellow cards. This group includes Erik ten Hag, Mikel Arteta and Marco Silva. Following in their footsteps could be four other strategists who received two yellow cards: Mauricio Pochettino, Pep Guardiola, Roberto De Zerbi and Sean Dyche.

Forecast

It is not easy for players and coaches to get rid of the habit of reacting to the referee, especially in a stressful playground like the Premier League. The frequency of carding for reactive fouls can only be gradually reduced and cannot be changed quickly.