- Arsenal v Nottingham Forest: the home and away records
- The media starts to catch up: yes Arsenal’s fixture list was biased against the club
Episode 10 of the series commemorating 100 years since the arrival of Herbert Chpaman has now been published. 10: Why Knighton had to go
By Sir Hardly Anyone
As the figures below show, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest are close to each other in terms of tackling – in fact Forest put in just fractionally over one more tackle per game than do Arsenal, on average. But despite this extra tackle they manage to get called out for almost two fouls fewer per game.
And yet when we look at the number of yellow cards awarded per game for tackles Arsenal are a long way short of Nottingham Forest’s total. Forest are picking up 26% more yellow cards from tackles than Arsenal – despite getting fewer fouls per game.
| Club | Tackles per game | Fouls per game | Yellow per game |
| Arsenal | 17.1 | 12.8 | 1.36 |
| Nottingham Forest | 18.2 | 11.2 | 1.72 |
So as we can see below, Nottingham Forest are putting in 21% more tackles than Arsenal before a foul is given. But Arsenal can put in 19% more tackles before a yellow card is waved. Which means that Arsenal can dish out 35% more fouls than Nottingham Forest before a yellow card is waved.
Taking into account the home and away tendencies of the two clubs Arsenal should get half the number of yellow cards in this match than Nottingham Forest. Arsenal are on five yellow cards from fouls at home, and Forest are on 10 yellow cards from fouls away from home. If Arsenal were a cheating side (which they are not, but some sides are) they would be going down regularly, just to disrupt the Forestry attacks.
| Club | Tackles per foul | Tackles per yellow | Fouls per yellow |
| Arsenal | 1,34 | 12.57 | 8.82 |
| Nottingham Forest | 1.62 | 10.58 | 6.51 |
| % difference | 21% | 19% | 35.5% |
As we so often see with these figures, by holding back on the tackles just a little Arsenal are able to put in 19% more tackles than the opposition before a yellow is waved, and get away with 35% more fouls before a yellow card is waved.
After an earlier blip Arsenal are now 15th in the fouling league, while Nottingham Forest are 12th. The top three foulers before this weekend’s matches are Ipswich, Southampton and Manchester United, so no surprises there.
In the league of yellow cards from non-fouling reasons, however, Arsenal are top along with Chelsea on 15. To consider this all one has to do is remember the referee’s decision to give a yellow card for kicking the ball back a couple of yards at a free kick. That’s how Arsenal get non-fouling cards, and why some people are highly suspicious of the activities of PGMO.
In terms of being penalised away from home Nottingham Forest are on 10 yellow cards for fouls and eight for these mysterious “other” reasons – probably time wasting. At home Arsenal are on five yellow cards for fouls and five for “other” reasons – which suggests that in this match – if it goes the way of others, Arsenal will get getting cards at about half the rate of Nottingham Forest.
While considering these numbers we might note that yet again Chelsea are getting a bit carried away with things. They are on 42 yellow cards for all reasons this season, while Arsenal are on 26, and that despite the yellow card festivities that referees were indulging in with Arsenal earlier on in the season.
Put another way, Chelsea have been picking up 62% more yellows this season than Arsenal. In terms of yellow card getting Chelsea are the champions year after year.
Which makes it slightly odd that the League doesn’t do anything about this. Chelsea were top last season on 105 cards, and yet no one really seems bothered.
Funny that.
