Ask a handful of football fans who they think is worthy of being labelled the dirtiest player in the Premier League and the chances are you’ll be given a variety of different names.
Thankfully, Telegraph Sport have run the rule over all the relevant statistics from the last five years of English top flight football, ranking the players most prone to getting into trouble with the ref.
Awarding each player one point for ever foul they’ve made, three points for every yellow card they’ve received and six for a red, here are the players that finished as the Premier League’s worst offenders…
5. Jack Colback
The Newcastle midfielder clocked up 303 disciplinary points during spells with his current club and former employers Sunderland, the same as sixth place Craig Gardner. However, Colback committed six more fouls than the West Brom man, enough for him to edge him out of the top five.
4. Charlie Adam
One point ahead of Colback, Stoke City’s Charlie Adam averaged 2.3 disciplinary points a game during a stint with Liverpool and with his current club, Stoke.
3. Cheick Tiote
341 disciplinary points, 224 fouls, 37 yellow cards and one red are enough to secure Newcastle’s tough tackling midfielder the bronze medal position.
2. Gareth Barry
With eleven more fouls than Tiote, Barry just misses out on top spot despite 38 yellows and three reds during his time at Manchester City and with Everton.
1. Marouane Fellaini
All those claiming that the attention Marouane Fellaini’s sharp elbows have been attracting lately -the stats don’t lie.
The Belgian tops the table with a whopping 371 disciplinary points, a huge amount considering he’s not always been a regular starter during his time at Manchester United.
The remaining players that make up the Premier League’s top 20 dirtiest players can be seen at Telegraph Sport.
