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da leao： Andre Marriner will be the man in the middle when Chelsea play host to Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday. It’ll be the sixth top flight fixture he has taken charge of this season and it promises to be a highly entertaining affair, not least due to Marriner’s own influence over proceedings.
Marriner tends to be a fairly lenient referee who allows firm but fair tackles to go unpunished. This is evidenced by the fact that he ranked 19th out of 21 Premier League referees last season in terms of fouls awarded per game. In 27 top tier matches, Marriner averaged just 18.37 fouls per match. In contrast, Michael Oliver averaged 22.4 across his 30 Premier League fixtures.
In an era when even the mildest contact can be adjudged to be an infraction, Marriner generally allows such things to slide. He averages just 0.56 fouls per tackle – which saw him rank 18th out of the 21 last time out. Paul Tierney and Roger East, meanwhile, both averaged 0.74 fouls per tackle.
The Blues ought to take heart from these statistics as it gives them license to fend off the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino in a robust manner. N’Golo Kante and Jorginho in the centre of the park will likewise be looking to make plenty of tackles and win the physical battle in the midfield. Maurizio Sarri’s men will be glad to know that they’ll be able to do so under the eyes of a referee who tolerates such things.
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However, when Marriner does spot an instance of foul play he is not afraid to reach for his cards. Last season he dealt out 72 yellow cards, a tally only surpassed by six other Premier League referees. That being said, his average of only 2.67 bookings per games places him at 16th out of the 21.
Whilst this suggests Marriner may occasionally be hesitant in showing yellow, he certainly has no qualms about giving players their marching orders. Only Oliver and Martin Atkinson showed more than the four red cards Marriner distributed last term.
His average of 0.15 dismissals per match sees him ranked fourth out of all 21 of the referees. Neither side this weekend can afford to be reduced to ten men, so both Jurgen Klopp and Sarri will be keen to impress upon their squads that, whilst Marriner tends to allow plenty of tackles to pass without consequence, once a line has been crossed he’ll happily begin dishing out the red cards.
Finally, if the 47-year-old’s stats from last season are anything to go by, we’re unlikely to see any spot kicks awarded at Stamford Bridge. He averaged just 0.11 penalties per game last season – 16th out of the 21.
With all this taken into account, the appointment of Marriner doesn’t appear to greatly favour either side. However, one vital stat that may appeal to the neutrals is the fact that Marriner’s 27 Premier League matches last season only ended in a draw on 11% of occasions. Of the 21 referees, only David Coote registered a lower draw bias, and he only took charge of one top flight encounter.
In what may prove to be an early title clash match, Marriner’s habit of avoiding draws means that his influence upon this fixture could echo across the remainder of the campaign.
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