Watford star Miguel Britos officially the dirtiest player in the Premier League… but Davide Zappacosta the teacher’s pet
Britos has been sent-off three times in the past three seasons, while Chelsea wing-back averages 14.3 fouls per card
WATFORD star Miguel Britos is officially the dirtiest player in the Premier League, according to the numbers.
Based on the past three top-flight seasons, bwin has assessed the stats to find out which players get stuck in the most... and which refs love to flash the cards.
And it's bad news for Britos, whose three red cards, all in the past two seasons, see him named the dirtiest Prem player.
In fact, the Hornets ace sees red every 20.3 fouls committed... with James Collins in second, seeing red every 21.9 fouls.
Simon Francis, Phil Jagielka and Florian Lejeune complete the top five, all being given their marching orders ever 25 fouls.
Meanwhile, Chelsea star Davide Zappacosta is the biggest teacher's pet in the English top flight.
In fact, the Blues wing-back gets away with making an astonishing 14.3 foul per booking.
Joel Matip and Erik Pieters are the next-most fortunate at 10.7 and 9.5 fouls per card respectively.
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When it comes to the match officials, Andre Marriner is statistically the harshest ref.
Marriner shows a card every 5.65 fouls, compared to 5.86 by Michael Oliver and 5.93 from Mike Dean.
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The most lenient official in the Premier League appears to be Lee Probert, at one booking per 9.7 fouls.
Graham Scott (8.15) and Lee Mason (7.27) also give the game a chance to finish with all 22 players still on the pitch.
Incredibly, while many believe the Premier League to be a more physical animal than Europe's other Big Five leagues, the stats suggest otherwise.
In fact, the Prem averages fewer fouls (21.9), yellow cards (3.34) and red cards (0.13) per game than any other major league in Europe.