Michael Oliver’s stats against Arsenal make for interesting reading. | OneFootball

Arsenal have been on the receiving end of several controversial refereeing decisions throughout this campaign, and the most frustrating aspect of these calls is that we’ve rarely, if ever, seen similar decisions given since. Take William Saliba’s foul on Joao Pedro, which led to Brighton being awarded a penalty weeks ago—never again this season, and possibly beyond, will you see a penalty given for a clash of heads. Looking further back, Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice were harshly sent off for kicking the ball away, and incidents like that have hardly been seen again. While we might have already written those decisions off as isolated and not worth overthinking, the latest controversy involving Myles Lewis-Skelly has arguably been the worst.

The decision to send off Lewis-Skelly has sparked fan outrage unprecedented this season. Even rival fans and pundits have called out the decision for its absurdity. You know the call is bad when figures like Jamie O’Hara publicly criticise it as a mistake.

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Looking at the referee who decided on the pitch, Michael Oliver, this isn’t the first time—either this season or in previous ones—that he’s sent off an Arsenal player in questionable circumstances. As some may recall, Oliver was also the official who sent off Leandro Trossard against Manchester City earlier this season in another controversial incident. Astonishingly, this latest dismissal marks the eighth time Oliver has shown an Arsenal player a red card during his 55 matches officiating the club (stat via WhoScored). This tally is significantly higher than any other club he has refereed, with Everton and Tottenham coming next at five each. Surprisingly, Oliver has shown just one red card to Liverpool and none to Manchester City, despite officiating both clubs in 50 or more matches.

Crunching the numbers, Arsenal’s tally works out to approximately one red card every 6.8 games. Now, while I’m not someone who subscribes to the idea of the PGMOL having an agenda against us, those figures are undeniably suspicious. Whether they’re suspicious enough to warrant an investigation is another matter entirely, but at this stage, such a notion wouldn’t seem far-fetched.

I’ll leave it for you Gooners to ponder over, thoughts in the comments.

BENJAMIN KENNETH

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