Any prizes for guessing who the dirtiest team were…?
Fanatix takes a look at the Premier League foul table, looking at which clubs committed the least and most violations last season.
The Premier League 2012/13 foul table (lowest to highest)
1) Manchester United – 376
2) Arsenal – 382
3) Tottenham – 387
4) Chelsea – 392
5) Reading -393
6) Southampton – 394
7) Liverpool -396
8) QPR – 402
9) Swansea – 407
10) Fulham – 412
11) Norwich – 433
12) West Brom – 436
13) Everton – 444
14) Wigan – 451
15) Aston Villa – 453
16) Sunderland – 454
17) Newcastle – 465
18) Manchester City – 469
19) West Ham – 470
20) Stoke – 484
Analysis:
– Manchester United committed less fouls than any other side in the league last year, and duly won the title. Perhaps it was harder to commit fouls when they always had the ball!
– It will be interesting to see whether they still top this table next season, as David Moyes’ Everton team committed more offences than over half of the league.
– Second place Manchester City however, committed more fouls than every team in the Premier league bar two, which is strange when you consider the slight players like Samir Nasri, David Silva and Sergio Aguero that play in the final third. Ferocious performers like Pablo Zabaleta, Yaya Toure, James Milner and Vincent Kompany may have accounted for this.
– United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea committed less fouls than club in the league last season, and all finished in the top five. It pays to not give away free-kicks.
– Reading and QPR could have done with implementing a more aggressive, physical style of play. Both were relegated without putting up much of a fight, but committed less fouls than more than half of the league.
– Unsurprisingly, with their physical brand of football, no teams committed more fouls than West Ham and Stoke City last season. Both stayed up with ease however, although Sunderland have installed Paulo Di Canio as manager who is likely to adopt a different footballing philosophy.
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