Arsenal are coming under fire for their disciplinary record under Mikel Arteta – but they just need to keep their heads.
No side has been shown more Premier League red cards than Arsenal since Mikel Arteta took over.
Arteta has got his team to boiling point on the pitch, battling to win the last three Premier League titles. When you are at fever pitch, you need to be aggressive, but you have to be streetwise too. That is a fine balance that you can sometimes get wrong.
During my playing days at Arsenal, we used to talk of an imaginary line that we knew we couldn’t go below. We had six players sent off in the league under Arsene Wenger in 2001-02, and I was one of them, but we still became champions.
At the start of his reign, a lot of Arsenal’s red cards were to players Arteta inherited. Three for David Luiz, two for Granit Xhaka and others to Nicolas Pepe, Bernd Leno and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arteta has built his own side now but the five red cards they have been shown this season is currently the most of any side and it has been costly.
No side has been shown more red cards than Arsenal in the Premier League since Mikel Arteta’s appointment
Myles Lewis-Skelly’s dismissal against West Ham on Saturday was the Gunners’ fifth of the season
Arsenal were on course to beat Brighton in the third game of the season but had Declan Rice sent off and drew.
They were beating Man City but had to play at the Etihad with 10 men for 45 minutes after Leandro Trossard’s red card and it cost them two points.
Arsenal went to Bournemouth in Gameweek 8, had William Saliba sent off and lost.
You can argue they have been unluckily punished by refereeing decisions when there has been an early initiative in the season to clamp down on time-wasting but since then, Arteta’s Arsenal have become a lot more controlled and have definitely cleaned up their act.
They then went 15 league games without another red card until Myles Lewis-Skelly got sent off against Wolves in January which was subsequently rescinded.
Following his sending off this weekend against West Ham, it’s even more important they now don’t let their frustrations bubble over on the pitch if they are not achieving the results they need.
Arteta has built a team that has put Arsenal back in the fight for the title in the last three season. They cannot afford to lose that fight and combative desire to be successful.
They just need to make sure they don’t fall below that imaginary line.
The Gunners have been made to rue their ill discipline as they have dropped points in all but one of the games they have gone down to ten men
Keown’s verdict on Arsenal’s 20 PL red cards under Arteta
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang v Crystal Palace Jan 2020
This is a leg breaker. I don’t think Aubameyang has a bad bone in his body but his foot comes down on to Max Meyer’s ankle and the Arsenal captain, who’d already put the Gunners ahead, could have no complaints. It was just a typical incident of a striker getting it wrong.
Verdict: Red card
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang received the first red card of the Mikel Arteta era in January 2020
David Luiz v Chelsea Jan 2020
Another player that Arteta inherited and the first of three Premier League red cards for David Luiz, all of them doing a similar thing. The defender was caught the wrong side of Tammy Abraham and hauls him down after he rounds the keeper. Easy decision.
Verdict: Red card
David Luiz collected three red cards under Arteta, with the first coming in January 2020
David Luiz v Man City Jun 2020
Unai Emery had worked with Luiz at Paris Saint-Germain and was convinced he could get the best out of him but we never saw the Luiz they got at Chelsea. Same from Luiz again here as Riyad Mahrez gets the wrong side of him and he pulls him back inside the box. No complaints.
Verdict: Red card
Eddie Nketiah v Leicester Jul 2020
I think Nketiah is unlucky here. He’s committed to the challenge and raises his leg but it’s body contact that he makes instead with Leicester defender James Justin. They just run into each other, in my opinion.
Verdict: Not a red card
Eddie Nketiah was a tad unfortunate to be dismissed for a foul on Leicester defender James Justin
Nicolas Pepe v Leeds Nov 2020
Pepe is naïve. He gets sucked in through frustration and puts his head against Leeds defender Ezgjan Alioski’s. I don’t think there’s a violent movement but as soon as you move your head forward, you’re asking for trouble. Alioski makes a meal of it but you just can’t do that.
Verdict: Red card
Nicolas Pepe got sucked in through frustration and put his head against Leeds defender Ezgjan Alioski
Granit Xhaka v Burnley Dec 2020
Like Pepe, Xhaka gets sucked in. He makes a tackle on Ashley Westwood which may have avoided a card but then gets involved unnecessarily by putting his hand on his neck. However, Xhaka lets go immediately and Westwood falls to the ground. A possible yellow becomes a harsh red.
Verdict: Not a red
Granit Xhaka was shown a red card after unnecessarily by putting his hand on Ashley Westwood’s neck
Gabriel v Southampton Dec 2020
Gabriel gets too tight to Theo Walcott on the halfway line, gets turned and pulls him down. When you’re already on a yellow card, you can have no complaints. This was the early days of Gabriel, when he tried to win things too often. It was part of his learning process.
Verdict: Red card
Gabriel could have no complaints after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on Theo Walcott
David Luiz v Wolves Feb 2021
Exactly the same from Luiz. He’s the wrong side of his man… again, makes no attempt to play the ball…again, and he gets sent off…again.
Verdict: Red card
David Luiz was made to pay for a repeat of his error the previous year and was dismissed against Wolves
Bernd Leno v Wolves Feb 2021
A moment of madness. He comes flying out the box and inexplicably punches the ball out of play. Having already had a player sent off, it makes it even more unbelievable.
Verdict: Red card
Bernd Leno flew out the box and inexplicably punches the ball out of play, giving the referee little choice but to reduce the Gunners’ numbers to nine
Granit Xhaka v Man City Aug 2021
Xhaka goes to ground and his foot is high and I don’t think he can have any complaints about that. He left his Arsenal side at the mercy of a rampant Man City side in a period of his career when he was being too physical.
Verdict: Red card
Granit Xhaka eft his Arsenal side at the mercy of a rampant Manchester City in August 2021
Gabriel v Man City Jan 2022
This is another example of the Gabriel’s early Arsenal career. He charges towards Gabriel Jesus on the halfway line and, like his earlier red card, gets turned again for a definite second yellow. This is an area he’s improved massively and he’s not been sent off since.
Verdict: Red card
Gabriel’s sending off against City the following January was another example of his early Arsenal career
Gabriel Martinelli v Wolves Feb 2022
Martinelli gets sent off for two yellows in quick succession for incidents in the same passage of play. He first pushes Daniel Podence as he’s trying to take a throw-in and then fouls Chiquinho moments later and Michael Oliver books him for both. I can’t think of many times we have seen that since. This is a kid that wouldn’t say boo to a goose. The referee just lost patience and control.
Verdict: Not a red
Gabriel Martinelli was sent off for two yellows in quick succession for incidents in the same passage of play
Rob Holding v Tottenham May 2022
Heung-min Son got into Holding’s head that day. He gave away a penalty early on for a foul on the Spurs forward and then tries to be too physical with him later on and Son goes down under the challenge when Holding had already been booked.
Verdict: Red card
Rob Holding gave away a penalty before he was dismissed on a miserable afternoon for the defender
Takehiro Tomiyasu v Crystal Palace Aug 2023
The first yellow card is ridiculous. Another example of an Arsenal player on the end of referees clamping down on time-wasting early in the season. Tomiyasu is only looking for a team-mate to receive the throw but the crowd is baying for blood and the referee books him. Then unfortunately gets a second yellow for a light touch on Jordan Ayew. The referee could have shown him some leniency but didn’t.
Verdict: Not a red card
The first yellow card Takehiro Tomiyasu received against Crystal Palace was ridiculous
Fabio Vieira v Burnley Nov 2023
Vieira catches Josh Brownhill on the knee with a high foot. He’s guilty as charged and can have no complaints. It’s a red card. Vieira only makes three substitute appearances for Arsenal after this.
Verdict: Red card
Fabio Vieira caught Burnley’s Josh Brownhill on the knee with a high foot and could have no complaints
Declan Rice v Brighton Aug 2024
This is really harsh. This is where referees need to show football understanding. Joel Veltman rolls the ball towards Rice as the Arsenal midfielder is attempting to walk away and then kicks it into his back, from nowhere near where the foul took place. As Rice looks over his shoulder, he sticks out a foot but the free-kick wasn’t taken from where the foul was committed.
Verdict: No red card
Declan Rice received the first red card of the season for the Gunners in a 1-1 draw with Brighton in August
Leandro Trossard v Man City Sep 2024
This was expensive. Trossard gets booked for a little pull back on Savinho, for which he can have no complaints, and then gets sent off for kicking the ball away on the stroke of half-time. It seemed harsh, especially when it was the seventh minute of stoppage time and the referee could have brought proceedings to a close to keep 22 players on the pitch but you simply cannot give officials the chance to send you off.
Verdict: Red card
Leandro Trossard got booked for a little pull back on Savinho and was then sent off for kicking the ball away
William Saliba v Bournemouth Oct 2024
I feel sympathy for Saliba because it all happened in an instant. A back pass from Trossard and he sticks an impulsive arm out. It’s just a spontaneous reaction with so little time to think. Even though Evanilson is quite a way out, he’d have been through. I thought he might have got away with it, but he didn’t.
Verdict: Red card
William Saliba was penalised for bringing down Bournemouth striker Evanlison after Trossard’s wayward pass
Myles Lewis-Skelly v Wolves Jan 2025
Arsenal went 15 league games without a red card since the early-season frenzy that shows Arteta’s players were working hard on it but reared its head again when Michael Oliver showed Lewis-Skelly a red card for his foul on Matt Doherty. It sparked a national debate but it was clearly never a red card as he didn’t endanger his opponent and that was proved when the decision got overturned on appeal.
Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card against Wolves was rescinded following an appeal from the club
The young defender could have no complaints for the red card he received against the Hammers
Verdict: Not a red card
Myles Lewis-Skelly v West Ham Feb 2025
I don’t think the young man can complain this time. Mohammed Kudus was West Ham’s outstanding player and did well to draw the foul. It was a deliberate action by Lewis-Skelly. You could argue that David Raya, who showed how quick he was later in the game, was so high up the pitch he could have challenged Kudus for the ball but in the moment, with Kudus’s pace, I thought he would be lucky to stay on the pitch.
Verdict: Red card
