Chelsea are on course to SMASH the record of most red cards in an EPL season

Enzo Maresca said he did 'not see any discipline problem' in the Chelsea camp before their game against Liverpool in October - when they had received three red cards in the four matches prior.

Come the 96th-minute of that tie, the Blues boss was himself sent off for leaving his technical area and straight for the corner flag to celebrate Estavao's dramatic winner with his team.

The following match, Malo Gusto was shown red for a rash sliding challenge against Nottingham Forest. And eleven days later Liam Delap was given his marching orders for what Maresca described as two 'very stupid' fouls against Wolves.

It was astonishing for a side who supposedly had no problems with self-control to have racked up five reds before Halloween. But after the Italian boss labelled the unwanted record as 'embarrassing' and Chelsea went five games without a dismissal, many had thought the Blues had turned a new leaf.

That is until Moises Caicedo had an inexplicable headrush against Arsenal on Sunday, clattering into Mikel Merino with his studs up before rolling to the ground and himself appearing to feign an injury before being sent down the tunnel.

The Colombian's sending off means Chelsea have six red cards in 20 matches across all competitons. And with four of them coming in 13 Premier League games, the Stamford Bridge side are on course to set a competition record.

Sharing the unwanted title of having the most red cards in a Premier League season are, currently, Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers who racked up nine dismissals each across 38 games in 2009/10 and 2011/12, respectively.

And should they fail to cool their tempers, Chelsea would well surpass that record.

Currently averaging a red card every 3.3 games, the Blues could stand to be shown 12 red cards this season which would, by some distance, give them the new record of being the most ill-disciplined team in Premier League history.

It would come just two seasons after they smashed the record of receiving the most-ever yellows in a season, with 105 cautions dished out under the management of Mauricio Pochettino.

Maresca has, however, sought to raise his concerns about the standard of refereeing amid his side's run of reds - even appearing to imply that his side are being unfairly punished - following Caicedo's dismissal against Arsenal.

The Chelsea boss said post-match: 'Moises' red card – it's a red card, but why was Bentancur's against Reece not a red card when we were at Spurs away?

'As a manager, I struggle to understand why they judge in different ways. Moises' is a red card, yes. Bentancur's is a red card, yes, so why they don't give him a red card?

'I struggle to understand. The reality is that it's a red card but why do they judge it in different ways? The Trevoh one, I asked the referee, he said to me that it was not an elbow. This is what he said. (Chalobah had a) black eye, ice at half time, but they judge in different way.'

Following behind Chelsea in the red card league table are Newcastle, West Ham and Wolves who all have two each. Manchester United, Burnley, Aston Villa, Everton, Sunderland and Bournemouth, meanwhile, have just one dismissal to their names.

Despite spending much of their time with just 10 men, Chelsea are sitting third in the league table and - on paper - have a kind run of fixtures until the new year.

They will hope to still be in the title race come January after Sunday's draw with pacesetters Arsenal and next face Leeds United at Elland Road on Wednesday.