Where do Sunderland rank among the Premier League's dirtiest teams this season?
Sunderland have enjoyed an excellent return to the Premier League, but how much of it has come from the bite they’ve brought to their defending?
The Black Cats are 11th in the table following their memorable 2-1 comeback win over Newcastle United prior to the international break. With just seven games to go, they can look forward to pushing their outside chance at qualifying for Europe, with relegation trouble never really materialising this campaign.
Of course, Regis Le Bris has built this Premier League season on a foundation of strong defending, with Sunderland conceding just 36 goals in 31 games so far - only four sides have conceded more. Within that, Sunderland have brought aggression and edge to their out-of-possession game. Sometimes, that’s landed them in a bit of trouble, but how much compared to the rest of the Premier League?
Sunderland discipline stats compared to Premier League rivals
Premier League yellow card ranking
1 - Brighton: 79 2 - Tottenham: 75 3 - Chelsea: 71 4 - Bournemouth: 71 5 - Wolves: 66 6 - Sunderland: 65 7 - Fulham: 65 8 - Crystal Palace: 62 9 - Brentford: 58 10 - Manchester City: 56 11 - West Ham: 53 12 - Everton: 53 13 - Burnley: 51 14 - Newcastle: 50 15 - Leeds: 49 16 - Liverpool: 49 17 - Nottingham Forest: 48 18 - Aston Villa: 47 19 - Manchester United: 46 20 - Arsenal: 40
Premier League red card ranking
1 - Chelsea: 7 2 - Bournemouth: 5 3 - Tottenham: 4 4 - Everton: 4 5 - Wolves: 3 6 - Burnley: 3 7 - Newcastle: 3 8 - West Ham: 3 9 - Sunderland: 2 10 - Crystal Palace: 2 11 - Manchester United: 2 12 - Brentford: 1 13 - Leeds: 1 14 - Liverpool: 1 15 - Nottingham Forest: 1 16 - Aston Villa: 1 17 - Brighton: 0 18 - Fulham: 0 19 - Manchester City: 0 20 - Arsenal: 0
Premier League total card ranking
1 - Tottenham: 79 2 - Brighton: 79 3 - Chelsea: 78 4 - Bournemouth: 76 5 - Wolves: 69 6 - Sunderland: 67 7 - Everton: 67 8 - Fulham: 65 9 - Crystal Palace: 64 10 - Brentford: 59 11 - Manchester City: 56 12 - West Ham: 56 13 - Burnley: 54 14 - Newcastle: 53 15 - Leeds: 50 16 - Liverpool: 50 17 - Nottingham Forest: 49 18 - Manchester United: 48 19 - Aston Villa: 48 20 - Arsenal: 40
Only five sides have been shown more cards than Sunderland this season. Their total of 67 has been fuelled by yellows, with the Black Cats being booked 65 times so far, while only seeing red twice. By comparison, Chelsea have received a whopping seven red cards in 2025/26, while Bournemouth are next on five.
The chief culprits for yellow cards in Le Bris’ squad are Trai Hume (8), Noah Sadiki (7), Reinildo Mandava (7) and Omar Alderete (6), who make up the quartet of Sunderland players to have received more than five bookings.
Hume’s total of eight bookings is the third-highest in the English top flight, with Brighton defender Lewis Dunk the unwanted leader on 10, making him the only player to hit double figures in this regard so far. Reinildo was the first SAFC player to be sent off in the league this season, receiving his marching orders just 33 minutes into the 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa in September. Meanwhile, Luke O’Nien was sent off just six minutes after he entered the pitch, right at the end of the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City in December.
Enzo Le Fee, Alderete and Reinildo have committed the most fouls among Sunderland players on 26 each, just ahead of Dan Ballard and Hume (25).
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