The battle between Arsenal and Leicester City in the Premier League promises to be compelling for footballing reasons – as well as for the bizarre yellow card issues Leicester has experienced this season.
The Problem of Leicester’s Yellow Cards
Leicester City has already received a remarkable number of yellow cards this season, easily the most in the league, and it’s raised eyebrows with journalists, pundits, and fans in Leicester and beyond wondering why this is happening. Leicester City appears to have an unreasonably high rate of yellow cards, particularly considering they rank significantly lower on the shooting table, meaning they are not a notable offender in terms of more dangerous play. In games recently, Leicester City demonstrated their ability to accumulate yellow cards through aggressive play, whether this can be categorized as tactical fouling of simply by virtue of strict refereeing.
Leicester has been consistently coloration yellow in nearly all of their games this season, co-incidentally making them one of the most carded teams in the league this season. This story is not unknown, but it will have a bearing on their performance against Arsenal. Nearly every player is walking a disciplinary tightrope where every subsequent yellow card per a yellow card warning is a ticket to suspension, and that should be key for Bradley, their head coach, when he assembles his squad for this match. This yellow card issue has potential ramifications for their overall squad depth and game responsiveness.
Potential Effects on the Arsenal Match
As for how this may impact their game against Arsenal, it has potential implications on their approach depending on game state conditions. If it goes according to-en and is about seventy minutes down into the game, they will need a lot of minutes before they can settle into a better style/market complimenting post yellow card wearing approach. Leicester could try squeezing their foul lever as a result a prioritized and strong trajectory, permitting them to do everything to win.
In more applicable tactical terms, Bradley Rodgers might even prefer or have to tell players to temper aggression and stay away from unnecessary fouls within the first half, especially early in the match, which toes both well as Leicester builds game plan strategies for their playoffs do during min of course they result from players to determine drop back expectations to safe their crest instead of risking their yellow cards.
Secondly, Arsenal are likely to take advantage of the chances by looking at Leicester players on the verge of suspension or players that had already received a yellow card in the match. This would contribute to what Mikel Arteta might be trying to do with a psychological edge to tilt a numerical advantage to his team, with the creative players for Arsenal such as Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard being encouraged to make Leicester players to commit a foul and engage with them enough to be a second yellow card shown.
Looking at the Bigger Picture
Of course the increased amount of yellow cards being shown for Leicester is not something to just worry about for the Arsenal match, but can become a broader issue that they can deal with as the season continues. Accumulating suspensions can leave a team weakened for the bigger matches, and having a reputation for discipline with referees may lead to them becoming scrutinized in future fixtures.
On the other hand, it could just mean that Leicester are playing at a higher intensity level, with Brendan Rodgers instilling in them his aggressive – determined approach to compete at the highest level. Nevertheless, Leicester do have to be careful to obtain a combination of high intensity and aggression, or aggressive discipline turning a potential tool of competitive advantage through referees pulling liberal creativity away from Leicester into discipline for them.
Conclusion
Regardless, as Arsenal prepares for their fixture with Leicester, the case of Leicester’s levels of yellow cards gives us added intrigue for the fixture with tolerating the disciplinarian issues that both teams face. It should give each team something to worry about as it factors into the match outcome as an anticipated meaningful plot point in what will be another fun match to watch. We will see if Leicester is able to maintain a level of coolness whilst on the pitch, or will Arsenal use the rampant discipline fun or competitive advantage as strategy as well. Either way, this will certainly be a must – watch, not just for goals, but for the cards as well it seems.
