Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton are best friends. Each was best man at the other’s wedding, and Guimaraes insists they are so close that they consider one another brothers.
Perhaps, however, they should be rebranded as Newcastle United’s Brazilian “brothers in harm”. In a bizarre statistical quirk, they top respective Premier League foul charts.
While one is a technical, quarterback-style midfielder who dictates play, the other is a physical powerhouse who rampages across the pitch, using his athleticism to dominate.
And the statistics prove it. Guimaraes is the most-fouled player in the top flight so far in 2024-25 — he has been impeded 41 times — while Joelinton is the biggest fouler in the Premier League, being penalised on 24 occasions.
Intriguingly, Anthony Gordon is also joint-second in the Premier League for players who have been fouled (25).
Evidently, fouls — for and against — are heavily influencing the way Newcastle play.
Guimaraes — top of the fouled charts
“I wouldn’t say it’s (drawing fouls is) an asset I naturally look at from a centre-midfield player, but it’s associated with his game.”
Eddie Howe’s remarks about Guimaraes came following Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal when the Brazilian was fouled seven times, a Premier League-high in a single match this season.
One of those is shown below, when Guimaraes receives a pass inside from Gordon.
He makes sure the ball is to his right, as Thomas Partey advances from his left, and once he feels a touch, he goes down. It is classic Guimaraes.
Across 10 Premier League matches, Guimaraes has been fouled at least twice in every game, while on four occasions he has been fouled at least five times. The 41 fouls he has suffered (shown below) thrust him 16 clear of the two players in second — Gordon and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (both 25).
On average, Guimaraes has won a free kick every 21.7 minutes (from 891 minutes played).
Guimaraes has won 4.1 fouls per 90 minutes played, which is also the highest among players who have played at least 300 minutes. Leicester’s Jordan Ayew is second at 4.0 per 90, then Gordon joint-third on 2.9 per 90, showing how much more frequently Guimaraes is fouled than almost everyone else in the top flight.
But Guimaraes’ propensity to draw fouls is far from a fresh phenomenon.
Since the 26-year-old’s Premier League debut in February 2022, he has won 268 fouls — 50 clear of Ayew, who is second, while James Maddison (205) is the only other player fouled on more than 200 occasions. On average, across 96 Premier League appearances, Guimaraes has been fouled 3.0 times per 90.
Guimaraes relishes responsibility and, even before he was handed the captaincy in August, he attempted to take charge of difficult on-field situations, demanding possession in testing moments and being brave enough to try and win free kicks. His importance to Newcastle’s build-up play also means he is targeted by opponents, who often flood the midfield and attempt to prevent Guimaraes orchestrating attacks.
“He’s very comfortable taking the ball in tight situations when he’s marked,” Howe said. “That’s a great quality of his and naturally he brings a higher number of fouls.”
Partly because he draws so many fouls, there is not an obvious trend in terms of timing and game situations with Guimaraes.
Of the 41 fouls, 19 have been won in the first half and 22 in the second. Meanwhile, 29.2 per cent have been won when the scores are level, 26.8 per cent when Newcastle are winning and 43.9 per cent when they are losing.
It is not coincidental, however, that 24.3 per cent (10) have been won from the 80th minute onwards, with three in added time. An example is shown below, when Newcastle’s 10 men were leading 1-0 in the fifth minute of added time against Southampton.
Guimaraes receives the ball from Alexander Isak and shifts his body in front of Sam Amo-Ameyaw, drawing a foul.
Just 90 seconds earlier, he had won another free kick after sprinting forward from a corner and shuffling his body in front of Samuel Edozie.
As the graphic above shows, Guimaraes is a master at drawing free kicks in and around the centre-circle, or inside his own defensive third.
On halfway, especially in broken play, counter-attacks can be damaging, but Guimaraes is proficient at disrupting an opposition’s rhythm.
Below, Tino Livramento’s poorly directly throw-in draws the attention of three Tottenham players.
Guimaraes, recognising he is unlikely to get to the ball, ensures he is caught, meaning Newcastle have a free kick rather than three Spurs players running at their defence.
Below, against Bournemouth, Guimaraes receives the ball inside his own box, facing his own goal, from a defensive corner.
He advances, then stops and waits for Justin Kluivert to run into his back, winning a free kick.
And Guimaraes also possesses the intelligence to draw fouls to extract Newcastle from difficult situations. Against Manchester City, Nick Pope underhits a pass to Guimaraes and, with Ilkay Gundogan ready to steal possession, rather than try to play out, the Brazilian steps across and wins a soft free kick.
Few, if anyone, in world football are as skilled at winning free kicks as Guimaraes.
Gordon — second in the fouled charts
Although Gordon cannot compete with Guimaraes in the being-fouled stakes, the winger has still been fouled an average of once every 30.8 minutes this season (771 minutes played). He has been fouled at least once in every match and, on four occasions, has been fouled at least four times (with five against Wolverhampton Wanderers the most).
Again, this pattern stretches back before 2024-25. Since the beginning of last season, when Gordon established himself as an automatic starter, only Guimaraes (149), Ayew (113) and Maddison (96) have been fouled more. During that time, Gordon has been fouled an average of 2.3 times per 90.
Curiously, only three of the fouls (12 per cent) he has suffered this season have been won in the final third. Guimaraes actually leads Newcastle players for fouls won in the attacking third (four), while Sandro Tonali has won as many as Gordon.
That is a significant divergence, because Gordon has still drawn the most fouls in the final third in the Premier League since the start of 2023-24 with 28 — six clear of anyone else.
But 25 of those came last season and six won penalties. With another spot kick gained in 2024-25 (shown below, against Manchester City when he ensured that Ederson clipped his leg), Gordon has won seven Premier League penalties, four more than anyone else since August 2023.
This season, partly because of Gordon shifting roles so frequently, he has won significantly fewer attacking free kicks.
One of only three came against Southampton, when the winger was played clear down the right shortly after Newcastle scored.
Having reached the area, Gordon chops back intelligently, leading Jack Stephens to trip him.
Instead, especially in the two and a half matches he has played as a centre-forward, Gordon has drawn a lot of fouls with his back to goal, coming deep to receive possession, or cutting inside from his wing.
Below is an example when, as a striker, Gordon receives a pass with his back to goal, drawing two defenders, before winning a foul.
Gordon is also excellent at driving upfield as a winger, relieving pressure by winning a free kick and allowing Newcastle to regroup. That is shown in the graphic above, especially down the left, inside Gordon’s own half.
Below is an example against Spurs, when Gordon rushes on to Dan Burn’s pass.
Gordon flicks the ball to almost halfway, before forcing Spurs to foul him.
Given that Gordon is also Newcastle’s main creative outlet — with 13 goals and 11 assists since the start of last season — he is also targeted by opponents, who attempt to rough him up and thwart Gordon by fouling him. That was certainly the case against his former club Everton last month, when Gordon was fouled four times, all before the interval, much to the delight of the Goodison Park faithful.
Of his 25 fouls, 15 have been won in the first half and 10 in the second. Meanwhile, 44 per cent have been won when the scores are level, 28 per cent when Newcastle are winning and the same when they are losing.
Joelinton — top of the foul charts
If Guimaraes is Newcastle’s free-kick-winner-in-chief, Joelinton is their undisputed disruptor.
The 28-year-old has committed the most fouls in the Premier League with his 24 (shown below) three clear of Wolves’ Joao Gomes and nine ahead of the next Newcastle player (Guimaraes with 15). That works out at a foul every 34.9 minutes (from 838 minutes played). Of players to have played 300 or more minutes, he is sixth-highest per 90 for fouls (2.6).
Joelinton has conceded at least one foul in every appearance this season and, on four occasions, he has given away at least three, with five against Tottenham the most.
Most surprising is that Joelinton has only picked up four bookings — all inside the first six league matches. He has somehow managed to go four Premier League appearances without receiving a yellow card, even escaping one against Arsenal despite committing four fouls.
Once more, this apparent predilection for fouling is far from revolutionary. Since Howe was appointed on November 8, 2021, Joelinton has conceded 171 fouls, the most in the Premier League. Conor Gallagher (160), Kai Havertz (157) and Moises Caicedo (130) are the only other players to have given away more than 140. Throughout those 87 games, Joelinton average 2.3 fouls per 90.
Of this season’s 24 fouls, 12 have been committed in each half.
There is a far clearer game-state influence on Joelinton’s fouling than when Guimaraes or Gordon is fouled. More than four-fifths (83.3 per cent) of the fouls he has given away have come when Newcastle are winning or drawing, split equally between the two. Meanwhile, only 16.7 per cent of his fouls have been committed when Newcastle are losing.
This shows that Joelinton is far more disciplined when Newcastle are losing and is keen to keep the game flowing to give his side a better chance of finding a route back into the match. When they are winning or drawing, however, he goes into full disrupt-the-opposition mode, as Newcastle have a positive scoreline to defend.
Against Southampton, he rushes Tyler Dibling in the sixth minute of added time.
Having missed Dibling, he then trips the winger, preventing a Southampton attack.
While some of Joelinton’s fouls appear needless and even borderline stupid, often they are deliberate and are intended to interfere with the opposition’s flow.
One of the Brazilian’s key tasks is to prevent the opposition from breaking through Newcastle’s aggressive press. Joelinton is usually part of the press but, if he or his team-mates are bypassed, he looks to commit fouls to prevent Newcastle from being played through and exposed.
His foul map confirms this, with a significant proportion of his fouls committed in the opposition half.
An example came against Arsenal, when Newcastle tried to win the ball high. David Raya passes to William Saliba and Joelinton rushes the defender.
However, the centre-back’s touch takes the ball beyond Joelinton, who ensures he blocks Saliba instead, preventing Arsenal from starting an attack.
It was in attempting to prevent Bournemouth from launching a swift attack from a Newcastle corner that Joelinton clotheslined Neto, too, and narrowly avoided a red card.
Against Spurs, meanwhile, Joelinton trips Radu Dragusin to prevent an overlap, given Newcastle’s midfield have pressed collectively and been bypassed.
Often Joelinton also fulfils several roles defensively, covering as an auxiliary left wing-back or even left-sided centre-back. He aided Lewis Hall’s shackling of Bukayo Saka, including fouling the Arsenal winger when necessary.
Admittedly, there is also a rashness to Joelinton. Against Wolves, he is angered when he feels Mario Lemina has fouled him.
Once he gets up to his feet, Joelinton sprints to the next available Wolves player, Yerson Mosquera, and swipes their legs, evidently enraged by how things have unfolded.
Joelinton performs a very different role to Guimaraes, but one that is of equal importance. While Guimaraes may appear to be the brain and Joelinton’s the brawn, they each require a bit of both to be successful.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
