THE Premier League showcases the best of the beautiful game – but sometimes it turns ugly.
From matches with huge brawls to derbies with 11 cards shown, referees have had to deal with it all.
Statisticians at Onlinecasinos365 have crunched the numbers on bookings, second yellows and red cards to find the ten dirtiest top-flight games.
And with the addition of VAR and officials clamping down on player behaviour, many of the matches come from this season.
10. 1999: Liverpool 0-1 Everton
The Merseyside derby is always a ferocious encounter and the 1999 clash at Anfield saw three red cards.
Everton star Francis Jeffers and Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld ended up fighting each other, with both dismissed.
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Then at the end of the game a reckless tackle by Steven Gerrard kick-started a second brawl as the Reds legend was sent off.
9. 2004: West Brom 1-1 Fulham
The famously feisty match was refereed by a young Mike Dean.
An off the ball incident saw Papa Bouba Diop sent for an early bath and things erupted again when Luis Boa Morte was fouled while through on goal.
It led to Andy Cole and Neil Clement throwing punches.
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8. 2023: Wolves 2-4 Leeds
A thriller at Molinuex saw Leeds secure a huge three points in their battle for survival.
The game was littered with bookings for both sides as Wolves duo Jonny Otto Castro and Matheus Nunes were given their marching orders.
7. 1999: Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal lost their tempers against bitter rivals Spurs with Freddie Ljungberg sent off for violent conduct.
And then Martin Keown was given a second yellow for a horror tackle.
There was also a fight at the end of the game with three players from each team getting booked.
6. 2006: Liverpool 3-1 Everton
This iconic derby saw Rafa Benitez’s side beat David Moyes’ thanks to goals from Luis Garcia and Harry Kewell.
A passionate Gerrard was given two yellows for tough tackles and Andy van der Meijde was given a straight red for an elbow on Xabi Alonso.
5. 2023: Man City 2-0 Nottingham Forest
It may have been a routine win for Man City but this match makes the top five in the rankings after it kicked off when Rodri strangled Morgan Gibbs-White.
Ref Anthony Taylor dished out 11 yellows.
4. 1999: West Ham 1-5 Leeds
The Hammers imploded against Leeds as they went down to eight-men in this Premier League classic.
Ian Wright was sent off and refused to leave the pitch, having to be held back by his team-mates as he tried to confront the ref.
Then goalkeeper Shaka Hislop was given his marching orders for fouling Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the box.
And things were completed by a frustrated Steve Lomas crossing the line with a poor challenge.
3. 2011: QPR 1-0 Chelsea
The West London derby saw Chelsea lose their cool, receiving two reds and seven yellows.
Jose Bosingwa was sent off for deliberately chopping down Shaun Wright-Phillips as he was about to score then Didier Drogba got dismissed for terrible tackle on Adel Taarabt.
John Terry, David Luiz, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, Raul Meireles were booked.
As were QPR’s Shaun Derry and Joey Barton to add to the chaos.
2. 2023: Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool
This game is best remembered for the Luis Diaz goal that VAR accidentally chalked off for offside.
But it was also a feisty one with Curtis Jones sent off for a bad challenge before Diogo Jota got two bookings.
Ten yellows were also handed out in a frantic encounter.
1. 2023: Brentford 1-2 Aston Villa
Multiple brawls, ten yellow cards and two straight reds – this match deservedly takes top spot.
The brutality started with Ben Mee sent off after a VAR check for a shocking tackle.
A mass fight then begun after Ollie Watkins scored against his former club and celebrated in front of his old fans.
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Brentford took exception and a melee erupted in the goal.
Minutes later Neal Maupay clashed with Emi Martinez and it kicked off the another scuffle with Boubacar Kamara red carded for a headbutt.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
