As the Premier League is continuing to take place, Arsenal tries its best to rise above its opponents, however, throughout their eight completed matches so far, there have already been three players that have been set off for the 2024-2025 season. With this, Gunners’ manager Mikel Arteta could not hold back his frustrations. According to him, it was "an accident waiting to happen." The red cards received by the team does not affect only the current match but it has also raised a number of concerns about the team’s discipline, in addition to that, the team as well as their fans feared that this might affect their goal of earning the title. To continue following Arsenal’s journey throughout, follow NowGoal. 

Arsenal’s Unbeaten Start

Arsenal is always at the top of the headlines, not only because of their history of having an unbeaten start to end of the season, but also because they have always had players being sent off. This raises a lot of concerns for both players and fans alike. Even Arteta himself willingly admitted that this situation is getting out of hand,  "there are things we have discussed in relation to certain topics," he said. This statement suggests that they have been discussing the subject matter and there have been some disciplinary issues that they really have to ponder upon in their internal conversations as a team. Watch their full statement only in NowGoal. 

Tactically speaking, it is not a question anymore that a team with approximately 10 men will most likely decrease the chance of winning, especially now that the team is playing for the Premier League. True enough, this was quite evident for Saliba’s red card against the opposing team of Bournemouth which occurred in the 30th minute of the game. This left Arsenal with a very difficult task of playing the rest of the game shorthanded. According to Arteta it was an "impossible task" to be able to secure points under those kinds of circumstances.

Arsenal Compared to Other Titleholders 

Taking a closer look at the match history of the Premier League, we can infer how the accumulation of red cards could be quite a disadvantage especially when you are  playing for a title winning one. Looking at the other titleholders in the past, such as Manchester City who has established a record winning game for the past few years, never have they ever encountered having more than two red cards in a title-winning season. In addition to that, Liverpool who have also won the Premier League title in the year 2019-2020 has only sent off one player throughout the whole season.

In comparison, the Arsenal team has picked up three cards already, and the season isn’t even over yet! This record matched the one of Leicester City in the year of 2015-2016 for their title winning match. The only difference between the two teams is that Leicester City’s red cards were distributed for the entire season already, whereas ARsenal earned all three in the span of eight games early on. At this rate, they may have problems in sustaining their standing, thus, they need to work hard not to add anymore if they want to earn the title. Every red card equates to a point dropped, and Arsenal have already lost 7 points so far. So if they really want to earn the title, they must level or be ahead of Liverpool. Excited to know what will happen next for Arsenal? Follow NowGoal for the most recent updates about the game.

The Long Standing Issue

It is no longer a surprise that Arsenal is facing these kinds of problems, in the past, Arsenal have been already struggling with disciplinary measures under the management of Mikel Arteta. Arteta, who took over the  managerial role for the team since 2019 in December, have already encountered issues like these. In fact, Arsenal got a total of 18 red cards in the Premier League already– that is 5 more than any other team that have competed during that time. The only teams that came close to this record are Wolves and Everton, but they were not competing for any title, with a dashing 13 red cards. With this, it could be inferred that this is not just a recent issue, this has been an issue in the past as well. History just keeps repeating itself from one season to another unless the team learns their lesson finally.

Red Cards aren’t Hurdles for Arsenal’s Success

Even though it became a pressing issue for fans, the red cards received by Arsenal doesn’t always pose that much of a concern for their success. In the past, when the team was still under the management of  Arsene Wenger, the Gunners are also known for having frequent red cards, yet, they have still managed to win a lot of titles. The teams being handled by Wenger are known for their infamous attacking strategies which results in red cards at times, however, in the seasons between 1997 and 2004, Arsenal was able to clinch the Premier League title three times, even though their red cards are also racing for each campaign. See the full details of these matches only in NowGoal.

Will Arsenal Succeed?

Now the real question boils down as to whether Arsenal will make it through the title. Arteta has previously mentioned that in order for the team to earn the title, they must keep all 11 players on the pitch. Even though the red cards were a major deduction and quite a disadvantage for the team performance, it is no doubt that Arsenal's overall standing is promising as ever. The team’s squad is composed of young players such as Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and Gabriel Jesus, thus, the potential to earn the title is still very high despite the red cards concern, unless another dismissal will be done once again.