“The Saturday before last, Clyde were winning 3-0 at The Spartans after an hour when Logan Dunachie was sent off. Twenty-eight minutes later, the score was 3-3. What is the biggest turnaround in a game following a red card/most quantitative blame that can be thrown at a player for getting sent off?” asks Jamie Wills.At Knowledge Towers, we usually receive questions about the greatest comebacks with 10 men. We covered that in 2021, so it’s a nice change to look at teams who went to seed after having a player sent off.Before we get to the meat of the question, a quick detour to cover some teams who were already losing and then fell apart completely after losing a player. There are examples dotted throughout the Premier League era. At the Etihad in 2017-18, Liverpool were a goal down to Manchester City when Sadio Mané was sent off in the 37th minute for a high challenge on Ederson. They lost 5-0.Two seasons later, Southampton were 1-0 down at home to Leicester when Ryan Bertrand was sent off in the 12th minute. They were eventually humiliated 9-0. VVV-Venlo went one worse against Ajax the following season. They were 4-0 down at home when Christian Kum was sent off in the 52nd minute. By the hour mark it was 8-0; Ajax eventually won 13-0.Oriol Romeu (left) and James Ward-Prowse don’t know where to look after Southampton’s 9-0 home defeat by Leicester in 2019. Photograph: Robin Jones/Getty ImagesIn the same season, 2020-21, Southampton lost another Premier League game 9-0, this time to Manchester United at Old Trafford. The score was goalless when the Swiss midfielder Alexandre Jankewitz walked in the second minute. Opta doesn’t keep records of how much eye contact Jankewitz made with his teammates over the next few days, but we imagine it wasn’t much.The most costly red cards, literally and figuratively, are those that precipitate a team losing a lead. Zdenek Zeman’s joyfully reckless Foggia were 4-1 up at Atalanta during the 1991-92 Serie A season when Dan Petrescu was given a second yellow card in the 72nd minute. Chaos ensued, Atalanta’s Carlo Cornacchia scored a 14-minute hat-trick and the match finished 4-4.An even more dramatic 4-4 draw took place in the Premier League 15 years ago. “While there might be bigger turnarounds, my thoughts immediately went to Newcastle v Arsenal at St James’ Park in 2010-11,” writes Rein. “I had just moved to the city and being Dutch, this game really hit home the highs and lows of supporting the Toon and tied me to the club. And that Cheick Tioté goal ….”We’re sure you remember the game, but if not, here’s a quick precis. Arsenal strolled to a 4-0 half-time lead, then things started to change when Abou Diaby was sent off in the 50th minute for manhandling Joey Barton. Arsenal collapsed in the final quarter of the game. Barton scored twice, Leon Best chipped in with another – and then, in the 87th minute, the late Tioté volleyed a glorious equaliser.At least Arsenal took a point back to London. Venezia had no such solace after the Derby del Veneto in December 2021. They were 3-1 up at home to Verona in Serie A when Pietro Ceccaroni was sent off in the 62nd minute for handling on the goalline. Gianluca Caprari scored the resulting penalty before Giovanni Simeone struck twice to give Verona a famous win.And finally, we shouldn’t forget Emmanuel Adebayor’s scene-stealing cameo on his return to the Emirates in November 2012. He gave Spurs an early lead before being given a straight red card in the 17th minute for a dangerous challenge on Santi Cazorla. Arsenal, who had beaten Spurs 5-2 at the Emirates earlier in the year, enjoyed a bit of deja 5-2.The million dollar question“Are Liverpool the first club to have three £100m+ players on their books? And which clubs were first to have three £10m+ and three £1m+ players?” wonders Owen Powell.It’s tricky to answer this question definitively, mainly because reported transfer fees can vary wildly. With that caveat, these are the best answers we could find – if you can find earlier examples, send them to knowledge@theguardian.com. Turns out Real Madrid aren’t the only Spanish club partial to a galactico or three.£1m: Nottingham Forest (1981)