Serie A, after the first eight days of the championship here are the most foul players who have not yet received a caution.
After the first eight days of the Serie A championship it is already possible to glimpse some general trends in statistics. Among them, a particularly interesting one is the one on the most foul players, which also holds some surprises but not as far as the podium is concerned.
In fact, in the first three positions there are players who can be considered calcistically “bad”: Youssef Maleh of Empoli boasts the record of 2.7 fouls per game and has already collected as many as four cautions. Next in line are Alessandro Buongiorno of Torino and tough guy Armando Izzo of Monza.
Serie A, yellow cards loom
There are also, however, three very foul players who have so far always been spared by the referees. The yellow card, however, looms: if they continue to foul with the same frequency shown so far, sooner or later they will be sanctioned.
Nzola of Fiorentina
First on the list is Fiorentina striker M’Bala Nzola: he has averaged 2 fouls per game so far. The Italian coach demands high and continuous pressing from the forwards, and in general Nzola turns out to be quite undisciplined. Last year he ended the season at Spezia with as many as 8 cautions in 31 games played.
Next is a new face in the Italian league: Daichi Kamada is at 1.8 fouls per game and has not yet been cautioned. Overall, he is not a very sanctioned player: in the Bundesliga last year he stopped at a quota of three cards. Due to acclimatization to the Italian league and Sarri’s schemes, he is resorting more to tactical fouls, and in the long run this could make him appear in the referee’s notebook.
Teun Koopmeiners of Atalanta closes the podium. This season coach Gasperini is using him as a real wild card and is occupying different areas of the field. At 1.5 fouls committed per game, he has never been cautioned. Last year of yellows he picked up 7: there is time to get back to average, but not from the next one since he is currently out with injury.