In the first Premier London Derbies (PLDs) Year Book for the 2019-20 season we made the comment that perhaps there was not enough passion in London derbies because not many Yellow and Red cards were given out. How wrong we were! The frustration, in the Board Room at least, engendered by the postponement of last weekend’s North London derbybetween Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal may well add to the unenviable record this fixture has for producing Yellows and Reds. A recently published statistic showed that the 59 North London derbies played in the Premier League (PL) so far have led to 245 Yellow and 10 Red cards – that is 4.15 Yellows per game, 2nd in the “top 5” for ill-discipline in the PL.
Arsenal also figure in 4th and 5th places. With 244 Yellows and 9 Reds between them in the 59 matches against Manchester United that is an average of 4.14 Yellows per game. In the 59 Arsenal v Chelsea fixtures played there have been 233 Yellows and 14 Reds giving 3.95 per game in 5th. In 3rd place in this shameful ranking is the Merseyside derby Everton vLiverpool. That highly passionate fixture played on either side of Stanley Park has provided 234 Yellows and a record 22 Reds – 3.97 Yellows per game and a Red card in every 3rd game.
Which fixture tops this dire chart? It is Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur, our next PLDs match! So far there have been 272 Yellows at 4.61 per game and 10 Reds. Remember “The Battle of Stamford Bridge” which ended Spurs title challenge in 2015-16 season, and a rather dubious sending off of Son Heung-min and racist accusations in this always feisty fixture? Last season was a 0-0 draw, but The Blues have had 3 wins to 1 in the previous 4 seasons. Chelsea are lacking confidence and Tottenham Hotspur are fresh from a miracle away win at Leicester City. Whatever the result on Sunday 23 January 2022 less than a total 4 Yellow cards would be a credit to both Clubs in this “Win at any cost” era.
Until next time “Keep Safe”, restrictions or none, and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.