The dirtiest players in the Premier League from the 2017/18 season

While football is undoubtedly the beautiful game, there are enough moments to make us wince and recoil in equal measure.

For every overhead kick in a Champions League Final for example, there are disastrous goalkeeping clangers (not pointing any fingers here whatsoever).

One such example is the dark art of the cynical foul.

You know the one, the mercurial opposition player breaks away with a deft piece of skill only to be hauled down before they can cause serious damage.

For every sublime goal or piece of skill we saw in the Premier League in the 2017/18 season, there were undoubtedly thousands more fouls.

Some players are guiltier than others and talkSPORT have decided to name them and shame them!

Thanks to data gather from the official Premier League website, you can scroll down to see the dirtiest players from the Premier League last season.

= 17. Cheikhou Kouyate (West Ham United) – 45 fouls

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= 17. Joshua King (AFC Bournemouth) – 45 fouls

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= 17. Mathias Zanka (Huddersfield Town) – 45 fouls

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16. Dusan Tadic (Southampton) – 46 fouls

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= 14. Mousa Demebele (Tottenham Hotspur) – 48 fouls

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= 14. Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace) – 48 fouls

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13. Joe Allen (Stoke City) – 49 fouls

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= 10. Dale Stephens (Brighton & Hove Albion) - 50 fouls

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= 10. Idrissa Gueye (Everton) – 50 fouls

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= 10. Tiemoue Bakayoko (Chelsea) – 50 fouls

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= 8. Oriol Romeu (Southampton) – 53 fouls

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= 8. Ashley Barnes (Burnley) – 53 fouls

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= 6. Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) – 57 fouls

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= 6. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) – 57 fouls

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5. Erik Pieters (Stoke City) – 58 fouls

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= 3. Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City) – 60 fouls

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= 3 Glenn Murray (Brighton & Hove Albion) – 60 fouls

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2. Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) – 63 fouls

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1. Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace) – 69 fouls

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