Red Card Records, Arsenal’s Approach, and Shots on Target

Stat, Viz, Quiz is the Opta Analyst football newsletter. This week’s edition looks at red cards, Manchester City vs Arsenal, and Premier League shots on target.

Last season’s games between Manchester City and Arsenal were full of mutual admiration. Too much, if anything, as very little actually happened.

Both teams obviously took the criticism of their rivalry being a bit boring personally, because on Sunday they set about producing more needle than a Christmas tree.

Red cards are the theme of this week’s SVQ, including one in France that really should have been more significant than it proved being.

We will of course touch on City v Arsenal, mainly looking at the Gunners’ change in approach after being reduced to 10 men, while we have another quiz and an Ask Opta question, too.

At Erling Haaland’s request, we’ll do our best to ‘stay humble’ as we bring you another edition of the best football newsletter in the world: Stat, Viz, Quiz… so much for staying humble, but maybe, right?

If you haven’t done so already, you can subscribe below and receive SVQ every week.

STAT – Fewer Players? No Problem

With all the other goings on in Europe’s big five leagues this weekend, including the battle at the Etihad, the Milan derby, Bayer Leverkusen scoring ANOTHER late winner and Barcelona handing out another thrashing, you may have missed arguably the game of the weekend in France.

Marseille were reduced to 10 men at Lyon in just the fifth minute, but still went into stoppage time 2-1 ahead. Rayan Cherki seemingly broke their hearts with a 93rd-minute equaliser, only for Norwich City loanee Jonathan Rowe (OM are obliged to buy him next year, for what it’s worth) to score a dramatic winner for Roberto De Zerbi’s side two minutes later.

Marseille’s Leonardo Balerdi received a yellow card after just 17 seconds of the game for a foul on Corentin Tolisso, before being given his marching orders with 4:32 on the clock after bringing down Alexandre Lacazette. In fact, only one other player in Ligue 1 this season has earned a yellow card earlier than Balerdi was shown his second of the game (Strasbourg’s Abakar Sylla vs Angers – 3:50).

It got us thinking, what is the earliest a player has ever been sent off for two bookings, and has a team ever won despite having a man fewer for almost an entire game?

Just for you, our valued SVQ family, we checked with our Opta colleagues across the continent to find out what the records for both are in Europe’s top five leagues.

We begin in France because it’s a nice easy answer; both records were broken in that clash in Lyon. Balerdi’s was the earliest red card for two yellow cards in a game since we have this data (2006-07), while it was also the earliest red card for a team that won the game (data available since 1992-93).

In the Premier League, the earliest a team has been a man down and gone on to win was Leicester City, who beat Burnley 2-1 in March 2019 despite losing Harry Maguire to a red card after just three minutes, 11 seconds. The earliest double-booking dismissal on record (since 2006-07) was Chico Flores for Swansea City against Chelsea in April 2014 (15:49).

In Serie A, where we have the data since the 1994-95 season, Luca Marchegiani was sent off for Lazio against Cagliari in October 1996 in just the third minute, but the Biancocelesti still won the game 2-1. The earliest dismissal for two bookings (data since 2005-06) is a tie between Vincenzo Iaquinta for Juventus against Catania in February 2009 and Amadou Diawara for Bologna against Milan in May 2016. Both were sent off in the 12th minute.

In the Bundesliga, the fastest red for two yellows on record also came in the 12th minute, with former Manchester United striker Mame Biram Diouf receiving his marching orders for Hannover 96 vs Hoffenheim in October 2013. The earliest red card for a victorious team was a stunning effort from Hamburg against bitter rivals St. Pauli in September 1996, HSV winning 3-0 despite not only seeing Stefan Schnoor sent off in just the fourth minute, but also Sven Kmetsch on the hour mark as they played the final third of the game with just nine men.

The earliest sending off on record for two bookings in La Liga was Athletic Club’s Aritz Aduriz against Rayo Vallecano in June 2013, receiving his second yellow card after just nine minutes, 50 seconds (data since 2005-06 season). Impressively, Rayo Vallecano beat Alavés 1-0 in May 2002 despite José María Quevedo being given a red card after 40 seconds (data since 1998-99 season).

So, there you go. The lesson for this week is undoubtedly that red cards are not the end of the world. We suggest players still try to avoid them, but don’t go giving up on your team if there’s fewer of them on the pitch.

Speaking of which…

VIZ – Arsenal’s (Almost) Masterplan

There’s no getting around it, Arsenal were unlucky on Sunday.

After coming from behind to lead Manchester City 2-1 heading towards the break, they lost Leandro Trossard to a red card following his second yellow for kicking the ball away.

If there’s one team you do not want to be shorthanded against, it’s City, but Arsenal held on fantastically well until the dying seconds when they were denied by John Stones’ late goal.

Mikel Arteta had them set up primarily defensively even when he had 11 men, with Kai Havertz playing exceptionally deep, and Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard pretty much playing as far back as Thomas Partey, with only Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka having an average position inside the City half.

Unsurprisingly, that approach changed in the second half, as you can see below.

Man City had a remarkable 87.6% of possession in the second half, while Arsenal only completed one sequence of more than three passes after the break.

Three visiting outfield players had an average position inside their own penalty area in that time. On the surface, it looked like Havertz was given freedom to play further forward after the red card, though as with Jurriën Timber’s curiously high average position, that is likely due to the low number of touches the German had in the second half.

Fancy some bonus graphics? Here are Arsenal’s first- and second-half passing networks from the game. Do bear in mind though that they only completed 29 passes after the break, compared to 119 in the first, which is why it looks a bit odd (and Timber doesn’t feature as he didn’t pass, nor was he passed to before coming off in the 92nd minute).

They’ll have easier days, but Sunday was a fascinating battle between two teams almost certain to be fighting for the title once again.

Learn more about Arsenal’s approach against Man City

QUIZ – Brentford’s Fast Start, Watkins’ Involvement, and Wayward Bruno

There were some interesting data developments in the Premier League on Matchday 5, but how many are you aware of? Let’s see. Answers at the bottom of the page.

1. Bryan Mbeumo’s goal for Brentford after 23 seconds was the earliest Tottenham have conceded in the Premier League since November 2013, when which Spaniard scored after just 13 seconds for Manchester City?

2. Ollie Watkins has registered 49 Premier League goal involvements at Villa Park, drawing level on Saturday with which former Aston Villa player with the joint-most for the club at their home ground?

3. Luis Díaz has scored five goals for Liverpool in their opening five league games this season; only Mohamed Salah (six in 2020-21) and one other player have scored more for the Reds in the opening five games of a Premier League campaign. Who is the other player?

4. Everton’s Ashley Young (39 years, 74 days) is one of only five players aged 39+ to assist a Premier League goal. Name any of the other four.

5. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes has had more shots without scoring than any other player across Europe’s big five leagues in 2024-25. How many attempts has he recorded? A) 13, B) 15, or C) 17?

Ask Opta

This week’s question comes from Lucy Sinclair, who asks: “I saw Liverpool had 13 shots on target against Bournemouth on Saturday. Which teams have had the most shots on target in a Premier League game this season, and of all time?”

Do you have a stats-based football question you want to Ask Opta? If so, send it to editors@theanalyst.com and we’ll do our best to provide you with the answer in a future edition of SVQ.

Answer:

Liverpool did indeed have 13 shots on target against Bournemouth in their 3-0 win at the weekend. Curiously, it was more shots on target than they managed when they beat the same opponents 9-0 two years ago (12).

Thirteen is also the most shots on target from any team in the Premier League this season. Interestingly, the three highest totals in a game in 2024-25 all came this weekend (also 11 for Man City vs Arsenal and Fulham vs Newcastle), while Tottenham’s 10 SoT against Brentford is joint-fourth with Manchester United’s 10 against Southampton last weekend. It seems like some teams are starting to get warmed up in front of goal as the season progresses.

As for Premier League history, the most shots on target by one team in a game on record (since 2003-04) also came from Liverpool. Their 6-1 home win over Watford in November 2016 saw them hit the target an incredible 17 times, keeping Hornets goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes exceptionally busy.

There have been four occasions of teams getting 16 shots on target in a Premier League game, with Arsenal doing so twice (vs Blackburn in October 2009 and vs Manchester United in December 2017), Man Utd managing it against Newcastle in January 2008, and Man City doing so against West Brom in March 2015.

What Are We Up to at Opta Analyst?

Here’s some of our latest data-driven offerings:

Quiz Answers

1. Jesús Navas

2. Gabriel Agbonlahor

3. Michael Owen in 2000-01 (six goals)

4. Teddy Sheringham, Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Giggs and Thiago Silva

5. C) 17

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