Bukayo Saka is a name in the news this week after Arsenal complained that he’s received rough treatment from opponents, but Chelsea do have their own version of that in their ranks.
The Daily Mail reported this week that Arsenal complained to the Premier League’s refereeing body that their attacker Bukayo Saka, 22, is receiving unfair treatment. They feel like referees are allowing opposition players to clatter the right-winger far too much without an initial punishment.
Interestingly, there’s a Chelsea star who’s drawn double the amount of bookings from fouls as Saka in the league this season.
OptaJoe data records that Blues winger Raheem Sterling has drawn the most cards in the Premier League this season (14).
The 28-year-old Chelsea forward has been fouled 31 times so far, with nearly half leading to bookings.
As for Arsenal’s Saka, opponents have only collected seven cards for the 43 fouls on him this season.
In fairness, the statistics certainly seem to point towards the Gunners being justified with their frustration.
From our point of view, Saka’s still not had it anywhere near as bad as Eden Hazard when he was flying during his Chelsea career.
There’s just some players, especially fast and skilful wide men, that are going to draw a lot more fouls than others. Of course, we don’t want players overstepping the line or for anyone to be endangered.
Raheem Sterling a card magnet
It’s a sign of Sterling’s return to form that opposition players have had to resort to bookable fouls to stop him.
The £50million speedster (Daily Mail) has looked electric at times in the first half of the season, albeit he needs to find more consistency to really win over the entire fanbase.
Speaking via the Premier League’s official YouTube channel last month, Blues midfielder Enzo Fernandez admitted that the team always tries to deliberately pass the ball to Sterling when he’s 1v1 against defenders.
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