Are Chelsea Europe's dirtiest team after their FIFTH red card this season?

As line-ups go, it's shaping up to be one of Chelsea's strongest.

First-choice goalkeeper Robert Sanchez keeps his place between the sticks, and Moises Caicedo provides genius in midfield. Marc Cucurella is a dogged presence on the left wing and - as in the fantasies of some Blues fans - Enzo Maresca remains in the dugout.

But this XI is unlikely to ever be played, as it exists only as an example of one of the west London's side's greatest weaknesses.

Chelsea is just four players away from fielding a full red card XI for the 2025-26 season, so bad is the side's discipline problem. As well as Sanchez, Caicedo, and Cucurella, other first-team starters who have been handed their marching orders on the pitch this term include Malo Gusto, Trevoh Chalobah, Joao Pedro, and Liam Delap.

As well as their seven sendings-off, former manager Maresca has also seen red from the touchlines, which hardly set a good example for his developing side.

For Chelsea, the lack of discipline within the squad is starting to bite. The Blues have played five Premier League matches with 10 men, and won only one of them, against 17th-placed Nottingham Forest.

Cucurella's sending-off against Fulham came at a particularly punishing time for the side, amid a woeful winter where a win against their west London rivals might have left them as high as fourth had other results gone their way. Instead, the team have dropped to seventh - hardly an auspicious welcome for new manager Liam Rosenior.

It also puts the Blues out of sight at the top of the Premier League's unfair play table. Using Transfermarkt's metric of one point awarded for a yellow, three for a second yellow, and five for a straight red card, Chelsea have accrued a whopping 69 bad-behaviour points at the midpoint of the season.

The Club World Cup winners have earned 46 yellow cards for unruliness on the pitch, with one of those upgraded with a second yellow, as well as four straight reds in league action.

Their closest rival in the standings is their derby foe Tottenham, who are some way off with 59 points.

Only Everton can close with three red cards this season - although two of those were earned on Wednesday night, in their helter-skelter clash with Wolves which saw them reduced to nine men following the sending-off of Michael Keane and Jack Grealish.

Chelsea's tally makes their the joint dirtiest team across Europe's top five domestic leagues, tying with Roman bad boys Lazio.

The Serie A side have picked up an eye-popping seven red cards this season, with six being shown immediately, and one second yellow earned for a second offence.

Only LaLiga side Real Oviedo have accrued more red cards during the campaign, with seven of their players picking up eight reds in just six months.

Joint-third in the standings are Seville and Monaco, who have both earned 63 points - the highest in LaLiga and Ligue 1 respectively. Seville however have earned most of their points through yellow cards however, with 55 earned, while Monaco are level on red cards with Chelsea and five to their name.

Spurs make the top 20 in joint-seventh place with 59 points picked up, the same number as Rayo Vallecano, with the Premier League the second most-represented league in the European-wide list with six teams making the cut.

Joining the list are Bournemouth, Brighton, Wolves, and Sunderland, with the Seagulls the biggest hoarder of yellow cards by some measure, with 55 earned by their players in league action thus far.

LaLiga could be deemed the dirtiest league in Europe, with eight teams inside the top 20, their red card tally totalling 32 between them.

Referees seem unwilling to hand out cards - or players particularly motivated by fair play - in Germany, with only one Bundesliga side making the cut for the top 20, Mainz.

The German team has been handed a comparatively paltry 34 yellow cards, but a persuasive five red cards.

With this ignominious honour looming over Chelsea as they keep up their pursuit of Champions League football next season, they will be keen to fix their situation and fast .

But in hiring Rosenior, they may not have found the magic solution.

Although the former Hull City manager is well-known as a clear and considerate manager, and was keen to stress the importance of 'unity and teamwork' in his first press conference after he was announced at head coach, his record this season is imperfect.

Strasbourg are the joint-20th dirtiest team in European football, with 51 disciplinary points to their name, and trail Chelsea only slightly with four red cards picked.

Like Chelsea, this issue could be placed in part at the feet of the relative youth of the squad, with Strasbourg similarly invested in developing young players - who in turn, like Rosenior, could end up at Stamford Bridge.

But as with his predecessor Maresca, Rosenior's own temper might do little to cool rising tensions on matchday.

The London-born manager was a figure of fire as he clashed with officials during Strasbourg's home defeat to Marseille in September, with footage catching the new Chelsea head coach calling an official a 'f***ing s***house' who had made a 'f***ing s***house decision'.

Rosenior was also heard telling someone not captured to 'f*** off' after he called Chelsea loanee Ben Chilwell to his side to offer some in-game advice.

The 41-year-old is thought to have been accusing the referee of biased decisions in the match, and had to calmed by the fourth official to present escalation.

Rosenior then was swept up in a row in the direction of Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi, who he told to 'f***ing sit down' and levied the accusation at him that he '(did) this every week', telling him too to 'f*** off'.

The new manager might have the firepower and passion to tempt Chelsea fans onto his side from the off. But whether he has the solution to their discipline issues is another matter.