The most fouled Premier League players in 2023/24 | OneFootball

Highlights

Arsenal are said to have complained to the PGMOL about the rough treatment Bukayo Saka has been on the receiving end of in the Premier League. This is according to the Daily Mail, who exclusively revealed that the Gunners have been unhappy with the way in which opposition players have gone about their attempts to stop the dynamic winger.

Saka is the main attacking threat in the Arsenal team, meaning players and managers from all other Premier League teams have been forced to come up with creative ways to stop the English forward from running rampant. For many teams, the best solution to the 22-year-old's pace and direct dribbling is to put an extra man on him when defending and double up.

The club clearly feel that the tactics employed by opposing sides to shut down Saka's game has gone too far at times, as there are said to have been a number of incidents that lead the Gunners to believe their star man is being clattered by opposing players without sufficient punishment following.

This has prompted us at GIVEMESPORT to take a look into the most fouled players of the 2023/24 Premier League season to date. Does Saka get upended more often than any other player in the division? Find out below...

Two players have been fouled more than Saka

Arsenal may feel hard done by with the treatment of their superstar winger, but there are actually two Premier League players to have won more fouls than the England international throughout the first half of the 2023/2 campaign. It is important to note that these are fouls that have been awarded by the referee, meaning there will be occasions where players feel they have been stopped in their tracks unfairly, but the match official on the day saw no issue and waved play on.

Therefore, there could still be some credibility to the complaint lodged by the north London club with regard to the way Saka is being dealt with. It may be a case of a referee allowing play to continue despite what looks to many to be a foul on the Gunners wide man. However, we have got to this point and Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle and Crystal Palace's Jordan Ayew have both won more fouls than Saka in the opening 20 games of the Premier League season.

Ayew is the most fouled player in the division after winning 65 fouls for the Eagles. The Ghanaian is a trusted member of Roy Hodgson's team and will be a big miss when he jets off to play at the Africa Cup of Nations for his national side. This will also allow players time to catch up to his tally of 65, which is well ahead of Guimaraes in second place with 53.

Opponents have been penalised 43 times for fouling Saka, which is significantly less than the two players already mentioned. This is despite having played only 10 minutes less than Guimaraes and over 100 more than Ayew.

Lucas Paqueta - West Ham's samba star - has won only one less foul than Saka while playing 1519 minutes of top flight football so far in the 2023/24 campaign compared to Saka's 1665 minutes. While it could be used to dispel the frustrations of Arsenal, it could also be that the other players mentioned are better at forcing the referee into making a decision, as some players are in the modern game.

Manchester City star among the most fouled players of 2023/24

Phil Foden has won 33 fouls for the champions

Guimaraes' Magpies teammate - Anthony Gordon - also features on the list after drawing 38 fouls for Eddie Howe's team, while Aston Villa duo John McGinn and Ezri Knsa have been felled 70 times between them. This is only five more times than Ayew has managed individually, which shows the contrast between the Crystal Palace forward and the rest of the division.

Mohamed Salah is a player that is often said to not be awarded with some free-kicks that other players may be given, but the Liverpool forward doesn't feature at all. Phil Foden of Manchester City is a dribbling sensation and thus, has been fouled 32 times. It is no great surprise to see him on the list as there are sometimes no other options when trying to stop Foden from running a game.

The final three players on the list are Joao Pedro (Brighton), Joao Palhinha (Fulham) and Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest). Each player has won 32 fouls, although there is a significant difference in the number of minutes played by the trio.

Arsenal's Saka complaint

Were the Gunners justified in reaching out to PGMOL?

Saka plays in every Arsenal game when available and, as a result, there will be times when the winger and his colleagues feel he is being harshly treated. Incidents will occur that should be given as free-kicks by the letter of the law, but if the referee doesn't spot them in the moment, a blind eye will be turned. There are other players that will feel this is the case. Crystal palace and Newcastle could have more of a genuine gripe than the north London club as Ayew is being fouled a lot more than any other player and Guimaraes and Gordon both rank highly.

It is yet to be seen if there will be a response from the PGMOL or if the way Saka is officiated changes, but it will also be interesting to see if other clubs begin to make noise over their star players being kicked around often.