Leeds United have broken the unwanted record for the most yellow cards in a single season following yesterday’s 2-1 defeat at Arsenal. The Whites became the first-ever Premier League side to receive more than 95 bookings across a Premier League campaign, eclipsing the previous record set by Sunderland in 2014/15, with 94.
Leeds’ ill-discipline was at its most prominent in the trip to the Emirates on Sunday, with captain Luke Ayling seeing red for a needless two-footed lunge on Gabriel Martinelli. Raphinha and Mateusz Klich were also booked for Jesse Marsch’s side, with the former particularly walking a tightrope for his aggressive protestations over Ayling’s dismissal.
Ten players from across the squad have picked up at least five bookings or more this term, with Junior Firpo, Diego Llorente, Pascal Struijk, Adam Forshaw, Tyler Roberts, Stuart Dallas, Daniel James, Raphinha, Rodrigo Moreno and Klich all having entered the referees booked on multiple occasions.
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This statistic is perhaps another indicator of the defensive struggles of Leeds for large portions of the season, particularly under the previous management of Marcelo Bielsa. Bielsa tasked his players with going man-to-man when out of possession and so if they ever found themselves the wrong side of their opponent, tactical fouls may have been the only way to stop them.
Having said that the yellow cards have hardly slowed down since Marsch’s arrival, either, with 21 bookings in his nine games in charge, including five in each of the matches with Aston Villa and Wolves. It is difficult to put a finger on why Leeds have picked up so many yellow cards, though they have also made the most tackles in the league with 747 – and the more you make, the more you are likely to mistime.
