This Saturday, as part of the 20th day of Ligue 1 2024-2025, Paris Saint-Germain (1st) take on Brest (8th) at the Stade Francis-Le Blé (kick-off 5pm, broadcast on beIN SPORTS). The referee for the match has been chosen: Benoît Bastien (41). He has a wealth of experience in Ligue 1, with 251 matches to his name.
Bastien will be assisted by Hicham Zakrani and Aurélien Berthomieu. The 4th referee will be Olivier Thual. Video assistance will be provided by Yohann Rouinsard and Mehdi Mokhtari.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Bastien at the whistle, we can expect yellow cards to come easily during the match. Indeed, while the national average per match is 3.53 (standard deviation 0.39), Saturday’s referee has given an average of 3.96 yellows per match throughout his career in Ligue 1 (Transfermarkt figures). That’s very high, and let’s hope it’s not without dialogue and a little management.
Direct red cards –
The man on the whistle this Saturday is a little less severe when it comes to direct exclusions, as he has a slightly elevated tendency when it comes to handing out direct red cards. In fact, Bastien has handed out 0.18 exclusions per match in his career, whereas the national average per match is 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). There’s no question of sanctioning in every sense, but he’s clearly strict.
Second yellow cards –
Benoît Bastien isn’t 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 0.08 times per match. This is well below the national average of 0.09 (standard deviation 0.03). With so many yellows to begin with, it’s understandable that the red is harder to come by.
Penaltys –
Finally, when it comes to penalties, the man on the whistle on Saturday is on a par with the Ligue 1 average, which stands at 0.34 (standard deviation 0.08).
