MIKEL Arteta said it was “an accident waiting to happen” – but just how costly could Arsenal’s red card problem be to the Gunners’ title hopes?
Just eight games into the new Premier League season and already Arsenal have had three players sent off.
William Saliba was the latest to be shown red after he was dismissed for the first time in his career in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Bournemouth, which ended Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the campaign.
It follows red cards for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard earlier in the campaign and each time Arsenal have gone down to 10 men they have dropped points.
When asked on Match of the Day whether Arsenal have a disciplinary problem after Saturday’s loss, former England striker Alan Shearer said “it has to change”.
He added: “Quite clearly they’re not going to get enough points if it doesn’t – you’ve seen the games it’s happened already this season, with the two draws and this defeat.
“It can’t continue.”
indeed, they were left with an “impossible task” following Saliba’s 30th-minute dismissal, according to Arteta, but might the Gunners’ disciplinary record also prove fateful to their grander aspirations?
In the short term, Arsenal’s latest dismissal is a blow because Saliba will miss the home game against current Premier League leaders Liverpool on 27 October.
The Gunners are currently one point behind the Reds in the table, but should Arne Slot’s side win against Chelsea on Sunday and then beat Arsenal, they would move seven clear of Arteta’s side.
Champions Manchester City could also move clear of Arsenal – their closest rivals in the past two seasons – with victories over winless clubs Wolves and Southampton in their next two.
“Playing for 65 minutes with 10 men at this level is an impossible task. It’s an accident waiting to happen not to get the points,” said Arteta.
On his side’s disciplinary issues, the Spaniard added: “There are things that we’ve discussed in relation to certain topics. Certainly we need to play with 11 if we want to be in the position we want to be.
“I thought what we did with 10 men was quite remarkable.”
Like the red cards shown this season to Trossard against Manchester City and Rice at Brighton for delaying the restart, Saliba’s sending-off was an avoidable one, with Trossard’s awkward pass creating a situation from which his team-mate could not recover.
Midfielder Rice said he was “proud” of his team-mates for the fight they showed but rued the “naivety” which ultimately cost them.
“We’ve kicked ourselves in the foot three times in eight games,” he said.
“We can’t make silly mistakes. You need all your best players on the pitch at all times. The belief is so high and we will stick together.”
How does their red card record compare to past title winners?
Arsenal versus past title winners
Gunners’ red-card record this season compared to league winners since 2015-16
Season Team Red Cards
2024-25 Arsenal 3
2023-24 Man City 2
2022-23 Man City 1
2021-22 Man City 2
2020-21 Man City 2
2019-20 Liverpool 1
2018-19 Man City 1
2017-18 Man City 2
2016-17 Chelsea 0
2015-16 Leicester 3
The concerning news for Arsenal is that collecting too many red cards does not bode well to a side’s chances of winning the title.
Manchester City have won the Premier League in each of the last four seasons and they have never had more than two red cards in any of those campaigns.
Indeed, the last time they had more – four in 2019-20 – was when Liverpool won the title instead.
You would have to go back to 2015-16 – when Leicester claimed that fairytale win – to find the last time a side won the Premier League with as many red cards as Arsenal have now.