Foul frequency across Europe: Arsenal stands out
How frequently are teams fouling their opponents across Europe? Issue number 338 of the CIES Football Observatory
Weekly"> answers this question using the data provided by In Stat. At the level of the five major European leagues, the lowest foul frequency was measured for Arsenal (one foul every 10’44”), while Getafe is at the bottom end of the table (one foul every 5’44”).
Apart from Getafe, the highest foul frequency per big-5 league was measured for Hellas Verona (5’54”), FSV Mainz (6’30”), AS St-Etienne (7’10”) and Fulham FC (7’48”). Conversely, apart from Arsenal, the following teams committed the least fouls per minute: FC Barcelona (10’29”), Bayern Munich (10’19”), SSC Napoli (9’37”) and Nîmes Olympique (9’13”).
Out of all the 30 leagues surveyed, the extreme values were measured for FC Zenit (one foul every 12’34”) at one end and for two Greek teams at the other: PAS Giannina and Volos NFC (one foul every
4’51”). Eleven Greek top division clubs are among the 20 ones committing the most fouls per minute. Conversely, eight Russian teams are among the 20 with the lowest foul frequency.
