Premier League players are being sent off with considerable more frequency this season.
After seven rounds, there have been 13 dismissals in 70 matches, compared with 42 across the whole of last season. That means a red card every 5.4 games, against one every nine matches in 2025–26.
If that rate were to continue for the rest of the campaign, it would produce about 71 dismissals in all, an increase of 68% year-on-year.
Which begs the question why. Have referees become stricter, have players become less disciplined, or are tactical decisions leaving defenders increasingly vulnerable? The figures establish a pattern due do not yet provide a definitive explanation.
Nine dismissals this season have been straight red cards, with four resulting from second bookings. Last season, those totals were 28 and 14 respectively. The proportions are broadly similar, suggesting that the rise cannot simply be attributed to players collecting more second yellow cards.
There has been a change to the way that VAR is used. Officials can now review a clearly incorrect second yellow card that results in dismissal. However, that does not allow VAR to recommend a second booking that the referee failed to issue. The change provides protection against wrongful dismissals, so it offers no convincing explanation for the increase.
Defensive mistakes provide one possible explanation for individual incidents. Kevin Danso’s dismissal against Bournemouth followed a foul that denied Evanilson an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Sunderland were left with ten men after just 17 minutes, significantly worsening an already difficult afternoon.
Teams seeking to retain possession under pressure or defend further forward can expose themselves when a pass goes astray or an opponent escapes. A defender’s desperate intervention may then turn one mistake into two. However, establishing whether this explains the wider increase would require examining every dismissal.
Ill-discipline is also a factor. Having already been reduced to ten men against Liverpool, the decision of Brentford’s Vitaly Jannelt, who was already on a yellow card, to commit a foul he must have known would earn him another one, can best be described as ill-judgement.
For now this might just be a statistical anomaly and a few quieter weekends could reduce the average considerably. For now, though, dismissals are occurring more frequently, and their cost extends beyond the match itself. Clubs with limited squad depth can find that one rash decision creates problems lasting several weeks.
