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Arsenal have a disciplinary problem that could cost them the Premier League title

STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer

Mikel Arteta felt he had no choice.

The Arsenal manager saw right-back Ben White receive a yellow card in the first half of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk and made an immediate decision.

White had to be taken off at half-time.

“We’ve played enough with 10 men lately,” Arteta said with a grin.

It is becoming abundantly clear that Arsenal have a disciplinary problem and it could cost Arteta’s team a chance at the English Premier League title.

Arsenal had three players sent off in the first eight rounds of the league season, which saw yellow cards handed out at an unprecedented rate.

It continues a theme that continues under Arteta. Since taking over as manager in late 2019, Arsenal have collected 18 red cards in the Premier League; That’s five more than the next team.

Significantly for Arteta, the only games in which Arsenal have dropped points this season (the 1-1 home draw with Brighton, the 2-2 away draw with Manchester City and the 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday) have been a loss in the team. These were the matches where the player was present. He was dismissed.

We cannot continue playing with 10 people, especially at this level. You see how we fight,” Arteta said this week. “We need to eliminate this, that’s clear. Why, why, how; It doesn’t matter at all. We must focus on the need for this to happen.

This especially needs to happen on Sunday, when Liverpool visit the Emirates Stadium in the headline game of the league’s ninth round.

Liverpool are in first place, one point ahead of second-placed City and four points ahead of third-placed Arsenal. A win would put Liverpool seven points ahead of Arsenal; While it is not an insurmountable shortcoming at this stage, it will leave Arteta’s players little room for maneuver. Perhaps more importantly, Arsenal, who are expected to edge winless Southampton on Saturday, are likely to fall six points behind reigning champions City.

Arsenal’s disciplinary problems come at the start of a season that has seen an average of 5.1 yellow cards per game so far, according to league statistics provider Opta.

Opta says this is much higher than in previous Premier Leagues, noting that last season’s 4.2 yellows per game was a new record, surpassing the 3.7 yellows per game in the 1998-99 season.

Two of Arsenal’s sending-offs – Declan Rice against Brighton and Leandro Trossard against City – each of the players in question received two yellow cards, the latter for wasting time by kicking the ball.

William Saliba was given a red card against Bournemouth for bringing down Evanilson near the midfield line and preventing what was considered a goal-scoring opportunity.

Saliba, perhaps Arteta’s most important defender, comes as Arsenal are already without captain Martin Odegaard (ankle) and are also without star winger Bukayo Saka (hamstring) and summer signing Riccardo Calafiori. He will miss the Liverpool match during his absence. He played for Shakhtar with a bent knee.

Liverpool will achieve 11 wins from their first 12 matches in all competitions under new coach Arne Slot. This streak immediately includes six wins, a club record for the start of a single season.

Slot said after Liverpool’s 1-0 win at Leipzig on Wednesday: “Arteta has done a fantastic job over the last few years and we have to be on top of our game to get a result.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.