EPL Bad Boys: Top 10 Players Most Likely to Get Cautioned or Sent off

England's top flight has seen some of the nastiest tackles in history. It is also known for having some tough characters when it comes to hitting hard, fast, and sometimes painfully destructive.

The English Premier League's official statistics section shows a total of 64 red cards handed out amongst 59 players last season, with five of them receiving multiple marching orders. Hundreds of yellow cards came to follow, and thousands of fouls.

Although they get a hard time for their actions, referees certainly have been busy in recent seasons, and the trend looks set to continue in one of the worlds roughest leagues.

With that in mind here is a look at the top 10 players most likely to get busted by a referee this upcoming season.

You can follow me on Twitter @thedailyatz and on Facebook.

10: Laurent Koscielny and Youssouf Mulumbu

Both Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny and West Bromwish Albion's Youssouf Mulumbu had their first full seasons in the English Premier League last term.

Accordingly they both received baptism by fire in their route to earning two red cards each, and six and seven yellow cards respectively.

With the new season on the horizon it will be interesting to see if their trend continues, or if there aggressive tendencies will be dialed back down a notch after it caused them to miss playing time last season.

9: Ciaran Clark

Aston Villa's young defender Ciaran Clark made a name for himself as a rough around the edges defender not afraid of a tackle last season.

He has the least amount of appearances of any player on the list at only 19 starts and three substitution showings, but he managed to collect nine yellow cards and 28 fouls in what is essentially only half a season of play.

If he had maintained that pace for the year and played every game he could have been a league leader in yellows with 18, and tied for eighth in the league with 56 fouls.

8: Kieran Richardson

Richardson is a veteran of the English top flight with nine full seasons now under his belt. However, the last three seasons have seen him be much more aggressive on the pitch and it has resulted in more disciplinary action coming his direction.

He has earned 28 yellows and one red card in the last three years at Sunderland, and this coming season I would expect him to be around nine to 11 in total once again.

7: Branislav Ivanovic

Since moving to a more prominent role in the Chelsea defense last season, the Blues Branislav Ivanovic has been getting into some heated action on the pitch.

He appeared in 36 total games for Chelsea this past year earning 12 yellow cards. His hard-nosed play could see him earn about as many next season. His total haul in three years in London comes to 20 yellows and 105 fouls.

6: Charlie Adam

The newly revealed Liverpool man nearly earned as many yellow cards as he scored goals last season with his totals of 12 goals and 11 yellows while Skippering Blackpool to an unfortunate drop out of the top flight.

Adam also ranked third in the league with 68 fouls, and he could take up a midfield enforcer role at Liverpool since they have been lacking that since Javier Mascherano departed for Barcelona in the first month of last season.

5: Cheik Tiote

Newcastle defender Cheik Tiote managed to rack up 14 yellow cards to lead the English Premier League with only 26 appearances in his debut season on Tyneside.

The addition of 75 fouls that saw him sit second in the league will make him a more watched player by officials next season as they will expect him to be more aggressive and thus most likely be quicker to hand out a card with his name on it.

4: Nigel De Jong

Nigel De Jong just earned his first piece of Silverware with Manchester City this past season, but that is not what he will be thought of for by match officials next season.

His tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa in October of last year resulted in a nasty broken leg for the Newcastle player. How De Jong was not sent off for it remains a mystery.

However, that I expect to have an influence on how lenient referees are with him next season. He earned nine yellow cards last season bring his EPL career total to 19 yellows and 103 fouls total.

3: Ryan Shawcross

Stoke City's Skipper and leading defender Ryan Shawcross has seen three season in the Premier League with the Potters since their return from the Championship.

Those three years have seen the English defender collect three red cards, including two last season, 20 yellows, and a total of 102 fouls.

2: Kevin Davies

Rarely would you think to see a striker this high on the list, but Bolton's skipper Kevin Davies is no ordinary front man. His size, strength and tenacity have made him a terror for Premier League defenses for the past 14 years.

In his total time in the English top flight he has gathered two red cards, 97 yellows, and 881 fouls. Those totals include 10 yellows in 2010-11 and his league leading 115 fouls last season, seriously 115, second place was 40 fouls behind him.

The last two seasons he has earned more yellow cards than he has scored goals.

1: Lee Cattermole

Five red cards in his last three seasons have seen Cattermole become a notorious enforcer for Under Steve Bruce at both Wigan Athletic and now Sunderland. The England International also has racked up 29 yellows in that time frame as well as 131 fouls.