Mikel Arteta aims a dig at Premier League as Arsenal boss claims the rules are now ‘very different’ after the first 15 games where his team were ‘punished’

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has taken a swipe at Premier League officiating, accusing the league of inconsistency when it comes to applying the rules. 

The Gunners have been shown five red cards this season, the joint-most of any team in the top flight, level with Ipswich Town. 

Several of those dismissals sparked controversy, with Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard both sent off for second bookable offences for delaying the restart in matches early in the campaign. 

Arteta believes his players were harshly punished at the start of the season, only for the interpretation of the rules to change as the campaign went on. 

The Spaniard said: ‘The rules at the beginning of the season when we were punished and after 15 games were very different’.

‘Hopefully next season we’ll have some new rules for some games then change them again. That would be great if possible. Especially for all the teams the same rules at least.’

Arsenal have been shown five red cards this season, the joint-most in the top flight

Leandro Trossard was sent off for kicking the ball away against Man City in September

In August, Rice was sent off for a second bookable offence against Brighton after kicking the ball away. 

Arsenal were eventually held to a 1-1 draw by the Seagulls, with the Gunners having led by a goal before the midfielder’s 49th minute sending off.

Just three weeks later, Trossard was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away as the Gunners dropped more points in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City. 

William Saliba and Myles Lewis-Skelly have also been sent off in a frustrating season for Arsenal, whose title challenge came to an end last week. 

Arteta heaped praise on new champions Liverpool, saying: ‘It’s good they had no distraction. 

‘The good thing is they had them on the pitch all the time, which is something very positive. 

‘And it’s a club, in the last 10, 15 years they’ve been consistent, they’re fighting for trophies, winning big trophies, winning the Champions League. So they’re used to that. 

‘Nobody should be surprised because they have the level and they made it because they’ve done a lot of things very, very well. So they deserve to be champions.’