As Moisés Caicedo was given his marching orders against Arsenal, Chelsea fans would have been saying 'not again.'
Caicedo's red card in the 1-1 draw was their sixth of the season in all competitions. The first five came in a 39-day span.
Those red cards include:
Goalkeeper Robert Sánchez (vs. Manchester United, Sept. 20)
Defender Trevoh Chalobah (vs. Brighton, Sept. 27)
Striker João Pedro (vs. Benfica, Sept. 30)
Defender Malo Gusto (vs. Nottingham Forest, Oct. 18)
Striker Liam Delap (vs. Wolves, Oct. 29)
Midfielder Moises Caicedo (vs. Arsenal, Nov. 30)
Enzo Maresca says referee are inconsistent
"It is a red card," Enzo Maresca said about Caicedo. "But why Bentancur on Reece James is not a red card [against] Spurs away?
"So us, as managers, we struggle to understand why they judge in different ways. Moi it is a red card, yes. Bentancur is a red card, yes. Why they not give them red card? It is just that we struggle to understand.
"The reality is that is a red card. But why they judge in different ways? And the Trevoh one, I ask the referee. He said to me it was not an elbow. He has a black eye, he was with ice at half-time but they judge in different ways."
Are Chelsea on track for a record?
In short, not really.
Even amidst a seemingly constant stream of red cards, Chelsea are still unlikely to be the bad boys of Europe.
The record for the most dismissals in a Premier League season is nine, held by Sunderland (2009-10) and Queen's Park Rangers (2011-12). So far, Chelsea have had just three in the Premier League.
However, the record across all competitions in Europe's top five major league is likely out of reach.
ESPN Global Research data back to 2009 shows that Sevilla were shown a stunning 17 red cards in the 2012-13 season.
Is Chelsea's young squad to blame?
There may be do definitive reason for Chelsea's lack of discipline, although Maresca has already diagnosed the issue: Their lack of experience.
"It's part of the journey of this team, this squad, that needs to grow up, to make experience to get better," he said after the win over Wolves when Delap was red carded.
- Which club has the most PL Hall of Fame inductees?
- Chelsea's Maresca slams Delap for 'embarrassing' red card
Chelsea have the youngest squad in the Premier League, with an average age of 24 years and 112 days. And another thing: Maresca has never selected a player aged over 30 in the league during his tenure at Stamford Bridge.
However, if you look at the ages of the players to have been sent off, it maybe tells a different story: Gusto (22), Delap (22), Pedro (24), Chalobah (26), Sánchez (27), Caicedo (24).