Pedro Neto’s red card against Arsenal on Sunday marked Chelsea’s seventh Premier League red card of the season, putting them two away from equalling the all-time league record. With 10 league matches remaining, there is still plenty of time for the Blues to make up this difference. Liam Rosenior’s men are just about on pace to become the outright record holders, but why have they been attracting so many red cards this season?
Most Red Cards by Team by a Premier League Club
Typically, it has been teams much lower down the table that have accumulated the most red cards. Partly this is because weaker teams spend more time defending, so there is more opportunity to commit fouls. On the other side of the coin, it is also more difficult to collect points when you are a player down, so some of these teams might have performed badly because of the sendings off, in part at least.
| Team | Number of Reds | Season | Final Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| QPR | 9 | 2011/12 | 17th |
| Sunderland | 9 | 2008/09 | 16th |
| Sunderland | 8 | 2013/14 | 14th |
| Newcastle United | 8 | 2008/09 | 18th |
| West Ham United | 8 | 1999/00 | 9th |
| Blackburn Rover | 8 | 1998/99 | 19th |
| Leicester City | 8 | 1994/95 | 21st |
| Chelsea* | 7 | 2025/26 | 6th |
*Current position
Chelsea are very much outliers in this sense as they remain in the hunt for Champions League qualification despite their extremely high red card count. If they can collect one more, they would be the first addition to the “8+ red cards in a season” club since 2014. The number of red cards given per game declined sharply in the 2016/17 season and has stayed relatively low since, bar a rise in 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Chelsea Premier League Reds this Season
Across competitions, Chelsea have amassed nine red cards this season, with seven of these coming in the league. This is not counting the red card former manager Enzo Maresca received against Liverpool back in October. In this article, we will look at each league dismissal and see how deserved they have been.
Robert Sanchez (Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea, 20th September 2025)
With Brian Mbuemo running in on goal, Sanchez decided to rush out of his area to confront the Man United forward. He took a large swipe but missed the ball and proceeded to clatter the legs of Mbeumo. This was an easy one for the referee.
Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea 1-3 Brighton, 27th September 2025)
As Diego Gomez charged in on goal with just Sanchez to beat, Chalobah made a desperate challenge from behind and got nothing of the ball. A very clear case of DOGSO, and with it being just outside of the box, there was no chance of getting away with just a yellow.
Malo Gusto (Nottingham Forest 0-3 Chelsea, 18th October 2025)
Already on a yellow, Gusto lunged in on the marauding Neco Williams and tripped him up while getting nothing on the ball. An obvious second yellow and simply a challenge he never needed to attempt, given there were just minutes left and the game was already won.
Moises Caicedo (Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal, 30th November 2025)
A very firm challenge that missed the ball and saw Caicedo lunge his foot at the very nearly planted ankle of Mikel Merino. Chelsea couldn’t have too many complaints with that one, as it could have caused Merino serious damage.
Marc Cucurella (Fulham 2-1 Chelsea, 7th January 2026)
Following a long ball over the top, Harry Wilson got himself the wrong side of Cucurella before having his arm pulled back just outside the box. As Cucurella had given the arm a nice, firm pull, there is simply no arguing against this one.
Wesley Fofana (Chelsea 1-1 Burnley, 21st February 2026)
After an undeserved initial yellow card, the second was uncontentious. Rather than playing it cautiously while on a booking, Wesley Fofana went in hard on James Ward-Prowse and stamped on his foot after the Burnley man made a pass.
Pedro Neto (Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea, 1st March 2026)
Having picked up a first yellow card for protesting Arsenal’s second goal, Pedro Neto should have spent the rest of the game treading carefully. Instead, while tracking Gabriel Martinelli down the line, he lost patience and made a wild lunge that missed the ball and tripped the Brazilian up.
The Verdict
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With all seven of these appearing to be wholly justified red cards, Chelsea cannot feel unlucky to have racked up so many dismissals. At the same time, this is not a symptom of an especially dirty team. Three of the seven cards were simple “Denying an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity” decisions, rather than for anything violent. Meanwhile, some of the second yellow challenges (Neto and Gusto) were just trips, rather than dangerous challenges that would have left any mark on the opponent.
That said, Chelsea do need to keep a lid on their aggressiveness as they have collected 62 league yellow cards (the fourth highest) and Liam Delap was sent off for an elbow in the League Cup. So many of their red card challenges have felt entirely pointless, so Rosenior needs to drill a sense of discipline and control into his players over the next couple of months.
Failure to do so could have serious consequences for Chelsea’s Champions League hopes, given that the Blues have collected just five points from the seven games in which they have been reduced to 10 men.