This Sunday, as part of Matchday 17 of Ligue 1 2024-2025, Paris Saint-Germain (1st) take on Saint-Etienne (15th) at the Parc des Princes (kick-off 8.45pm, broadcast on DAZN). The referee for the match has been chosen: Mathieu Vernice (31). He has extensive experience in Ligue 1, with 35 matches to his name.
Vernice will be assisted by Florian Gonçalves de Araujo and Julien Garrigues. Karim Abed will be the 4th referee. Video assistance will be provided by Benoît Millot and Mathieu Grosbost.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Vernice at the whistle, we can expect yellow cards to come out very quickly 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 3.97 yellows per match in his entire Ligue 1 career (Transfermarkt figures). That’s very high, let’s hope it’s not without dialogue or excess. But at least the players should be “protected”.
Direct red cards –
The man on the whistle on Sunday is also not very severe when it comes to direct exclusions, as he has a low tendency to hand out direct red cards. In fact, Vernice has handed out 0.23 exclusions per match in his career, whereas the national average per match is 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). The players have been warned to be careful.
Second yellow cards –
Last but not least, Mathieu Vernice has a 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 0.11 times per match. This is well above the national average of 0.09 (standard deviation 0.03). With so many yellows and reds, this comes as no surprise.
Penaltys –
Finally, when it comes to penalties, the man on the whistle on Sunday is also higher than average, with 0.46 penalties whistled per match, compared with the Ligue 1 average of 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).
