The rate of awarding yellow cards has considerably shot up during the 2024-25 Premier League season. As per the numbers gathered by SafeBettingSites.com, PL referees have shown 5.13 yellow cards per game, on average, so far this season.
A significant rise of 21.6% from the previous season in the rate of yellow cards
Premier League referees have attracted a lot of attention in the opening weeks of the season for their eagerness to brandish yellow cards. The new rule regarding punishing players for delaying restarts from free-kicks or dead-ball situations has further impacted the rate at which referees are pulling out cards from their pockets
This is the second consecutive season in which Premier League referees are showing an increased tendency to caution players. From our comparison of average yellow cards from the 2000-01 season to the ongoing season, it is evident that the average number of yellow cards remained somewhat stable up until the 2022-23 season, with some hikes and some lows.
However, the rate of yellow cards increased sharply during the 2023-24 season, with referees showing an average of 4.22 cards per game. As compared to 3.62 yellow cards/game in the 2022-23 season, the rate increased by 16.6%. Prior to the 23-24 season, the 2016-17 season was responsible for most yellow cards with 3.66 per game.
Referee’s eagerness to caution players in the Premier League seemed to have further strengthened during the ongoing season. And the new directives regarding delaying restarts have further worsened the situation.
At present, after seven game weeks or 70 games, referees have shown a total of 359 yellow cards or 5.13 per game. This current rate represents a significant increase of 21.6% from the previous season.
Vyom Chaudhary, an editor at SafeBettingSites.com, said: “As things stand, it would be interesting to see whether the same rate of cautioning players sustains during the rest of the season. One can expect the Premier League to instruct its referees to be more lenient in the coming days. This was very much evident when the league recently removed its referee Anthony Taylor from refereeing duties for a gameweek following his disastrous performance in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth. Taylor created the Premier League record in the game by brandishing a whopping 14 yellow cards.“
