Do Chelsea have a yellow card problem?

Chelsea are breaking records with their accumulation of yellow cards this season and last season

Chelsea are top of the yellow card table after seven Premier League matches and Sunday's fractious game with Nottingham Forest has raised the question: do they have an issue with discipline?

Manager Enzo Maresca played down concerns when asked but the Blues face an automatic £50,000 fine after referee Chris Kavanagh brandished them six yellow cards during the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

The Football Association (FA) are also awaiting analysis of the referee's report before deciding whether to take further action with forward Nicolas Jackson accused of slapping Forest defender Morato, while both clubs will likely face a charge of failing to control their players following an on-pitch melee.

The Blues' Cole Palmer - already on a yellow - took the sensible decision to sit down and watch as both teams pushed and shoved, in a clip which social media enjoyed.

Chelsea have already been involved in a Premier League record for the most yellow cards shown in a game, 14, against Bournemouth last month, with the Blues shown eight of those.

What is the data behind the bookings?

• Chelsea have 27 bookings this season, more than any other team in the Premier League

• Defenders Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella have become the first two players to pick up five yellow cards in the league this season and will miss the upcoming match at Liverpool on 20 October

• The Blues also picked up the most yellow cards last season with 105 (Wolves were second with 100)

• 105 yellows is a Premier League record for a season, surpassing the 101 by Leeds in 2021-22

What are the factors?

The issue with yellow cards pre-dates Maresca's appointment in June.

Former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino spoke last season about how "silly" bookings were a problem and showed video clips to his players to try to rectify the issue.

The Blues were punished last season for not adapting to new Premier League rules for dissent.

Jackson picked up 10 bookings last season but only one was for a foul, the others were for dissent, not retreating quickly enough for a free-kick and entering the field of play when a substitute.

Other players fell foul in similar situations and captain Reece James received two red cards - including one for two yellows - despite playing just 421 minutes.

The immaturity of Chelsea's young squad may be another factor and with centre-back Thiago Silva having departed in the summer the average age of the group has dropped further to 23.4, according to data from Transfermarkt.

The Blues also have the lowest average height in the league, according to Transfermarkt, averaging just over 5ft 8in, which was another issue Pochettino complained about when in charge.

It perhaps leads to a tendency for players to look at other ways to try and impart their physicality on matches.

And under both Pochettino and Maresca Chelsea are firmly a possession-based team, trying to implement various pressing styles. That pressing can lead to bookings in transition phases and there is a tendency for teams operating these tactics to produce tactical fouls to stop counter-attacks.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body which governs referees in England, has also changed the rules in recent years, with an automatic yellow card now expected to be brandished in several situations.

Maresca 'happy' with 'fighting spirit'

Unlike Pochettino, Maresca has encouraged his players to show aggression and after his players got their second fine for yellow cards this season, said: "I am not going to pay it!"

He played down concerns about losing Fofana and Cucurella for the next match, praising those players waiting in the wings: "The good news is they are all ready."

Maresca added: "It’s something we need to improve but overall, I like the team the way they are fighting. I like the way they are becoming a team in these kinds of things. I don’t see any problems about that.

"There are things that we can control and do better, for sure, no doubt, and probably this is one of the things. But if you ask me about the team spirit, the way they are fighting together, the way they are doing things together, I’m very happy."