Premier League red card rules explained as William Saliba and Mohammed Kudus face different bans

Saturday was a busy day for match officials in the . In seven top flight matches there were no fewer than five red cards dished out.

The big London derby between at lunchtime set the tone, with . The Ghanaian was dismissed after hitting two Spurs players in the face in an on-field melee after he had fouled Micky van de Ven and then kicked him while he was on the floor.

There then followed a spate of red cards. There were two in the game between Fulham and Aston Villa, as well as one in the Southampton vs Leicester City clash.

In the evening kick-off, were then reduced to ten men for the third time this season - receiving his marching orders against Bournemouth for a . The Gunners would go on to lose for the first time this season - beaten 2-0 by the Cherries.

Both the Hammers and the Gunners will lose influential players now to suspension, but the duo will be missing for a differing number of games, despite both seeing red. That is because there are different rules based on the reason for your red card.

Saliba only faces a one-match ban - although that is bad enough with Arsenal's next game against Premier League title rivals Liveprool next weekend. Kudus, meanwhile, will be suspended for three matches.

Here takes a look at the rules and why the suspensions are different.

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Red card offences and the bans

Serious Foul Play - 3 match ban

Violent Conduct – further defined as: head to head, elbowing, kicking, stamping, striking, biting, other unspecified behaviour - 3 match ban

Spitting - 6 match ban

Denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball - 1 match ban

Denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player's goal by an offence punishable by a free-kick or a penalty kick - 1 match ban

Use of offensive, insulting or abusive language - 2 match ban

Receives a second yellow card in the same match - 1 match ban

So because Kudus was sent off for serious foul play, the West Ham man faces a three-match ban. Saliba's red for denying a goalscoring opportunity only carries a one-match ban.

The severity of the offence determines the severity of the ban - as should be the case.