Five anytime card suggestions this week, split across the Premier League and FA Cup semi-finals.
It will be worth checking the team news, with some of them doubtful starters, as I’ve indicated.
Fabinho – Southampton
v Liverpool (Fri, 2000) – 4/1 (Sky
Bet)
Dejan Lovren – Southampton v Liverpool (Fri,
2000) – 5/1 (bet365)
Liverpool are one of the cleanest sides in the league but I believe this game has the potential for a few sparks.
First of all, Liverpool are under real pressure to win it – they know they can ill afford any more slip-ups in a title race in which they are currently a point off the pace. Secondly, Southampton, despite improved form, are still very much scrapping for survival and their midfield has long been a feisty one with the likes of Oriel Romeu and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg snapping into tackles. Thirdly, Liverpool’s history of using Southampton as something of a feeder club should make things interesting, certainly for those players have left St Mary’s for Anfield.
One of them, Dejan Lovren, is certainly worth considering for a card at 5/1 if he starts (he is fit again and was a sub last weekend) as he’s picked up four cards in his six league starts against his former club – that’s more than he’s got against any other team.
Fabinho is also a runner for a card if he’s in the starting XI – more likely but still something that is hard to judge with a Champions League quarter-final against Porto to follow on Tuesday.E
The Brazilian has eight cards in his 21 starts for Liverpool since his arrival last summer and will have to compete with that spicy home midfield.
With a ref happy to hand dish out the cards (see below), Fabinho is worth backing at 4/1 in the anytime market.
Referee: Paul Tierney – Only three of the 18 Premier League referees average a higher number of yellow cards then Tierney, so he looks a good appointment.
Fabian Schar – Newcastle v Crystal Palace (Sat, 1500) – 9/4 (bet365)
The Swiss defender returns from suspension for this one having already chalked up 10 yellow cards in his 18 Premier League games thus far.
His recent run has seen him booked in four of his last seven and now he’ll likely be facing Wilfried Zaha, a player I’ve regularly highlighted in this column.
The Palace winger remains the most prolific dribbler in the division and that ability invites mis-timed challenges, of which Schar has made many this season.E
I’m expecting Zaha to return to the left for this game with Andros Townsend recalled after Palace’s poor showing at Spurs on Wednesday and that would put him on collision course with Schar, who will likely play on the right of a three-man defence after being declared “OK” by boss Rafa Benitez following a concussion picked up on international duty.
That game for Switzerland is the only one Schar has played in the last four weeks, something which has to help the bet’s cause.
If it is indeed the case that Zaha is back on the left, some may also fancy backing DeAndre Yedlin – a winner for this column in the reverse fixture when he was booked for a foul on Zaha.
Right wing-back Yedlin has been carded in six of his last 16 league games yet he’s available at 4/1.
Referee: Stuart Attwell – Shows cards at a rate slightly under the league average so not an ideal man to have the whistle but he’s also shown he’s prepared to dish the cards out in a game which requires it with some high make-ups at times this season.
Vincent Kompany – Manchester City v Brighton (Sat, 1730) – 9/2 (bet365)
Another wait-for-the-team-news bet this, as Kompany is far from certain to start.
Yet the fit-again defender must have a decent shot at making the XI given Pep Guardiola’s need to keep his players fresh with City’s Quadruple bid now just 13 games from completion.
Spurs follow in the Champions League on Tuesday and that game will surely see Aymeric Laporte (who has already played two games this week) and John Stones start, which means it could well be Nicolas Otamendi and Kompany in tandem here.
Guardiola has certainly trusted the Belgian in big games. He started against Liverpool in January – and was duly booked by Anthony Taylor, who is the ref again in this one.
Kompany has started only eight Premier League games this season and been booked in four of them. He’s not played since March 9 which means he could well be rusty and so 9/2 looks pretty big.
Referee: Anthony Taylor – An average ‘carder’ in the Premier League, showing 3.21 yellows per game. However, it’s also worth looking at some of the big cup ties he’s taken charge of and they offer more encouragement. Taylor showed seven in last season’s FA Cup semi between Manchester United and Arsenal, while in the 2017 final he booked six and sent off another. The 2014 EFL Cup final saw five booked, while last season’s play-off decider at Wembley saw Taylor produce six yellows and a red.
Ryan Bennett – Watford v Wolves (Sun, 1600) – 3/1 (Betfair)
Sunday’s second FA Cup semi-final features two of the Premier League’s top five in terms of bad discipline so it certainly has the potential for fireworks.
Wolves centre-back Bennett looks a strong card candidate. He’s picked up a card in six of his last 10 league matches and has 10 in 29 across the season.
Notably, he’s also been booked in all three Premier League matches he’s played against Watford as he’s struggled to deal with Troy Deeney, who is set to be in opposition again here.
Bennett is 3/1 for a card here which looks worth a play.
Referee: Michael Oliver – Sadly this appointment is not the best and will put some off. He’s below average for yellow cards shown this season and also has kept the cards largely in his pocket in his previous FA Cup semi-finals – he has make-ups of 1-4-2 so far in his career and also only showed three in last year’s final. That said, Oliver has produced six red cards in the Premier League in 2018/19 and has issued eight cards to Wolves players across the two games in which they’ve both been in action.