Michael Oliver
Over his last 10 Premier League games, Michael Oliver has averaged 3.90 cards a match — in line with the league average of 4.09. That splits 3.8 yellow and 0.1 red a game — a red in 1 of the 10. The away side sees more of them — 2.2 to 1.7 a game, a sharper split than the league's 0.3 gap. 5+ cards landed in 30% of them (3 of 10), and he turned 15.9% of fouls into bookings. He points to the spot at about the league's rate: 22 penalties in 109 matches, 0.20 a game against a league average of 0.25. These are raw match figures from games he took charge of, not odds.
Match cards last 10 games
Career profile
The two numbers that matter are vs league — the multiplier the model applies to a player's booking chance — and conversion, the share of fouls Michael Oliver turns into bookings. Conversion, not the raw foul count, is where a referee's real card tendency lives. Career figures across every Premier League season on record.
| Measure | Oliver | League avg |
|---|---|---|
| Cards / match | 3.70 | 4.09 |
| vs league | 0.90× | 1.00× |
| Foul-to-card conversion | 16.7% | 18.7% |
| Fouls / match | 22.2 | 21.9 |
| Penalties awarded / match | 0.20 | 0.25 |
| Penalties awarded (total) | 22 in 109 | — |
| Red cards shown | 13 | — |
| Matches on record | 109 (29 in 25/26) | — |
Recent matches
The last 8 Premier League games Michael Oliver took charge of — the actual card and foul counts a match-cards line settles on.
| Match | Score | Cards | Y | R | Pen | Fouls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tottenham v Everton24 May | 1–0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| Leeds v Brighton17 May | 1–0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Everton v Man City4 May | 3–3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Fulham v Aston Villa25 Apr | 1–0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| Chelsea v Man Utd18 Apr | 0–1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Arsenal v Bournemouth11 Apr | 1–2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 30 |
| Tottenham v Nottingham Forest22 Mar | 0–3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| West Ham v Man City14 Mar | 1–1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
Frequently asked
How many cards does Michael Oliver give per game?
Michael Oliver averages 3.70 cards a game across 109 Premier League matches — 10% below the league average of 4.09. When he's appointed, the model multiplies every player's booking chance by 0.90.
Is Michael Oliver a strict referee?
No — he's more lenient than most. The honest measure is foul-to-card conversion — the share of fouls he turns into bookings — and Michael Oliver runs at 16.7% against a league average of 18.7%. Foul counts barely vary between officials; the rate at which a foul becomes a booking is where referees genuinely differ.
Does Michael Oliver's record change bet builder card prices?
It should. The referee is the single biggest factor in the to-be-carded market, and the appointment is public before kick-off — so a strict official on a combative player is the archetypal card edge. The player cards guide walks through exactly how the model turns a tendency like this into a price.
How reliable is Michael Oliver's card rate?
It rests on 109 career matches, a solid record. The model shrinks a referee's tendency toward the league average when the sample is thin and discounts its own confidence for officials with young records, so a number like this never gets trusted beyond what the evidence earns.
Rates shown are figures from public match data for context; the model adds shrinkage, an opponent factor and de-vigging, and discounts its confidence for thin referee records, before flagging any card as value. 18+ — please gamble responsibly.