Liverpool, Man City, Leeds: Which PL side committed the most fouls last season?

After winning four Premier League titles in the last five years, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side have cemented a reputation as one of the finest teams on the planet.

Blessed with a squad stacked full of talent, City are a joy to watch when at their glorious best.

However, a recent study of last season’s Premier League action suggests that there’s far more to their success than simply technical brilliance.

One of Guardiola’s golden rules is that he expects his players to regain possession as soon as they lose the ball. This was the case in his previous roles with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, too.

As you might expect, City’s stars aren’t keen to disappoint the Spaniard, who has been known to call a halt to training sessions to discuss misplaced passes such is his desire for perfection.

Having crunched the numbers for the 2021/22 campaign, The Athletic found that the Lancashire side committed more fouls within eight seconds of losing possession in the opposition’s half than any other Premier League team.

A total of 60.6% of City’s offences took place directly after surrendering possession, proving they were freely willing to bend the rules to try and prevent their opponents from establishing positive momentum.

By taking swift action, Pep’s charges snuff out potential counter-attacks before they ever get the chance to develop.

In the example cited by The Athletic, City’s Rodri is pictured instinctively pulling back Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentacur after his side loses possession, halting any prospect of the Uruguayan playing in Harry Kane, Dejan Kulusevski or Lucas Moura.

One of the reasons this tactic was so effective for City last season is that they managed to commit more fouls before getting booked than any other