Watford, West Brom and Tottenham are statistically the dirtiest teams in the Premier League, whilst Hull City, Manchester City and Chelsea are the cleanest.
Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole fouls Chelsea’s Eden Hazard
Even though we are only 6 games in to the Premier League season, there is already a great gulf between the cleanest and the dirtiest teams in England’s top flight, in terms of fouls committed.
Watford, who are statistically the dirtiest team in the league, have committed a total of 94 fouls, exactly double that of the cleanest team in the league, Hull City.
The Hornets are the league’s worst culprits when it comes to fouls committed by some distance, having committed a full 13 fouls more than the second dirtiest team, Tony Pulis’ West Brom.
Watford have committed the most fouls in the Premier League
After Watford and West Brom, the worst offenders are Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs’ high press and Mauricio Pochettino’s emphasis on hounding the opposition down and winning the ball back quickly probably has something to do with that.
Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Crystal Palace are next dirtiest trio, whilst Manchester City and Chelsea join Hull City as the three cleanest teams at this early stage.
Hull City have committed the fewest fouls in the Premier League
Despite having committed the fewest fouls, Hull City have received the most red cards in the Premier League, making them something of an anomaly, although both of their red cards were for handballs, rather than showing any malice or intent in a challenge.
In terms of individual offenders, strikers Christian Benteke and Fernando Llorente commit the most fouls, on average, per game, making 2.8 fouls and 2.7 fouls a game respectively.
The attacking duo are joined by West Brom’s Saido Berahino, Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini and Tottenham’s Victor Wanyama in the league’s top 10 average fouls committed statistics. The full list of all 20 clubs, in order of fouls committed (and per game) is listed below:
Tottenham have made the third most fouls in the Premier League
1. Watford: 94 (15.7)
2. West Bromwich Albion: 81 (13.5)
3. Tottenham Hotspur: 78 (13)
4. Middlesbrough: 77 (12.8)
5. Sunderland: 75 (12.5)
6. Crystal Palace: 72 (12)
7. Leicester City: 72 (12)
8. Swansea: 72 (12)
9. Man United: 70 (11.7)
10. Stoke: 68 (11.3)
11. Southampton: 67 (11.2)
12. Arsenal: 66 (11)
13. Burnley: 66 (11)
14. West Ham United: 66 (11)
15. Liverpool: 64 (10.7)
16. Bournemouth: 62 (10.3)
17. Everton: 61 (10.2)
18. Chelsea: 58 (9.7)
19. Manchester City: 56 (9.3)
20. Hull City: 47 (7.8)
Who do you think is the dirtiest team in the Premier League?
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