This Saturday, as part of matchday 19 of Ligue 1 2024-2025, Paris Saint-Germain (1st) take on Reims (13th) at the Parc des Princes (kick-off 9.05pm, broadcast on DAZN). Hakim Ben El Hadj (46) has been chosen to referee the match. He has a wealth of experience in Ligue 1, with 134 matches to his name.
He will be assisted by Gwenaël Pasqualotti and Ludovic Reyes. Antoine Valnet will be the 4th referee. Video assistance will be provided by Cyril Grigore and Maika Vanderstichel.
Yellow cards –
With Mr Ben El Hadj at the helm, we can expect yellow cards to be handed out rather quickly during the match. Indeed, while the national average per game is 3.53 (standard deviation 0.39), Saturday’s referee has given an average of 3.81 yellows per game throughout his career in Ligue 1 (Transfermarkt figures). That’s a very high number, so the players will have to be careful and we hope that dialogue will be possible.
Direct red cards –
The man on the whistle on Saturday is far less severe when it comes to direct exclusions, as he has a low tendency when it comes to handing out direct red cards. In fact, Ben El Hadj has given out 0.11 red cards per match in his career, while the national average per match is 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). So it is to be hoped that the idea is not simply to punish.
Second yellow cards –
Hakim Ben El Hadj 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 0.08 times per match. This is well above the national average of 0.09 (standard deviation 0.03). With a lot of yellows and few reds, this is relatively logical.
Penalties –
Finally, when it comes to penalties, the man on the whistle on Saturday is well below average with 0.25 penalties whistled per game, compared with the Ligue 1 average of 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).
