This Sunday, as part of the 23rd day of Ligue 1 2024-2025, Paris Saint-Germain (1st) will face Olympique Lyonnais (6th) at Groupama Stadium (kick-off 8:45pm, UTC+1). Eric Wattelier (37) has been chosen to referee the match. He has a wealth of experience in Ligue 1, with 116 matches to his name.
He will be assisted by Steven Torregrossa and Gwenaël Pasqualoti. Abdelatif Kherradji will act as 4th referee. Video assistance will be provided by Hamid Guenaoui and Ludovic Remy.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Wattelier at the whistle, we can expect yellow cards to come out sparingly during the match. Indeed, while the national average per match is 3.53 (standard deviation 0.39), Sunday’s referee has given an average of 3.08 yellows per match throughout his career in Ligue 1 (Transfermarkt figures). That’s very low, and it must be down to good dialogue and management rather than too much leniency.
Direct red cards –
The man on the whistle on Sunday was also stricter when it came to direct red cards. Indeed, Wattelier has given out 0.17 red cards per match in his career, whereas the national average per match is 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). He is therefore less shy when it comes to direct red cards.
Second yellow cards –
Eric Wattelier is not in the habit of sending off a player after his first yellow card in a match, as he issued a second caution to the same player an average of 0.04 times per match. This is well below the national average of 0.09 (standard deviation 0.03). With very few yellows to begin with, this is fairly consistent. Wattelier doesn’t usually give out many cards.
Penaltys –
Finally, when it comes to penalties, the man on the whistle on Sunday is higher than average, with 0.37 penalties whistled per match, compared with the Ligue 1 average of 0.34 (standard deviation 0.08).
