The Cards Column Tips: MD2 Player Cards, Team Bookings and Referee Data

Welcome to my brand-new weekly article, The Cards Column, which will focus on the arbiters of the beautiful game. They play a huge part in applying the laws of the game and sometimes the outcome, so these articles will aim to point out key referee appointments, their stats and some value in the range of card markets.

In the data sheets, you’ll see who’s in charge of what match, the number of times they’ve hit 40+ booking points and how often that translates into two cards to each team. If you’re a regular to cards betting, you know there can be some hefty splits.

Over the season, I may tweak the lines set depending on the new directives. Plus, I’ll be adding more data, such as first-half and second-half averages, as well as looking to see how often that official gives out 20+ booking points to the home or away side across their respective games once the season beds in.

The aim: to produce the data sheets as early as possible and add three betting angles each weekend across the Premier League and Football League when the markets become available. Don’t worry – at least one tip each week will be a player card!

• Sunderland vs Rotherham: Over 0 Rotherham first half cards & Over 1 Rotherham second half cards (page link to H2)
• Sheffield Wednesday vs Preston: Rename Him Delcardo (page link to H2)
• Tottenham vs Man Utd: Both teams to receive a first-half card (page link to H2)

Odds via bet365/William Hill  as at 18:30, Thursday, August 17th 2023. Odds may now differ.

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The Data from the Premier League and the Championship: Team Bookings and Referee Data

The weekend sees Tim Robinson take charge of his first Premier League match as a Select Group 1 official when he visits Craven Cottage for a London derby between Fulham and Brentford. His outing last weekend was in the Championship, where he gave three cards and a stoppage-time penalty to Birmingham in their 1-0 win over Leeds.

Elsewhere in the top flight, Michael Oliver has one of the bigger games as Man Utd visit Tottenham. Rob Jones – who dished out five cards last weekend (four in the first half), has the mouth-watering clash between Man City and Newcastle.

In the Championship, Bobby Madley’s run of games continues. His two matches have seen him give 13 cautions and one red. Graham Scott has his first outing of the campaign, as does Tony Harrington, who returns from injury and takes charge of his first match since November.

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The Data from League One and League Two: Team Bookings and Referee Data

The new directives have certainly seen plenty of cards. In League One and Two, during the midweek round of games, there were 104 cards – an average of 4.3 per game.

Sunny Gill and Peter Wright both had games in midweek and were both reaching for their red cards to dismiss players. Gill was the only referee across Tuesday’s 24 fixtures to hit more than 100 booking points (105).

There were plenty of promotions to the National List for this season. Two to point out with games this weekend are Ed Duckworth – his first EFL game saw eight cards (four for each team), while he also gave six in an EFL Cup tie. The other is Ben Atkinson – his two league games have resulted in 11 cards and one red (85bp & 50bp).

At the other end of the spectrum sits Martin Woods. He’s shown three yellows and a red in two league outings, so he seems reluctant to caution players, unlike some of his counterparts.

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Sunderland vs Rotherham: Millers ill discipline to continue

England, Championship, Saturday, August 19th, 15:00 (UK)

It’s been a pretty eventful start for Rotherham, who’ve picked up 75 booking points in both of their Championship games. If you’re new to booking points, each yellow is worth 10, a straight red is 25, and a dismissal for a second bookable offence is 35.

On the opening weekend, Matt Tayor’s side collected three yellows before the break against Stoke, before Cafu saw red in the second half for two quick cautions.

Last weekend against Blackburn, it was a similar tale. There were a couple of Millers’ first-half cards before Fred Onyedinma was booked twice in two minutes to get his marching orders. So, I’m looking to play a similar angle here.

The Yorkshire side travel to Sunderland, where you can expect a few more cards flashed their way. Last August, they visited the Stadium of Light and collected four yellows – Lee Peltier opening the floodgates in the 26th minute.

Sunderland’s Jack Clarke, Alex Pritchard and Trai Hume are drawing an average of 2.5 fouls per game, so they’re the players to draw the fouls, and the cards, from our Rotherham side.

Gavin Ward is in charge, and he dished out four cards in his opening league fixture (Middlesbrough v Millwall). Three of those went to the visitors, and to make it the perfect match for our bet, he booked Joe Bryan in the first half before giving out two more after the break.

With the Millers only averaging 26% of possession this season, expect them to defend deep and commit niggly fouls in a bid to upset the Sunderland rhythm. And with the new directives to penalise time-wasting, that could play a part the longer this remains in a favourable scoreline for Rotherham.

• Selection: Over 0.5 Rotherham first half cards & Over 1.5  Rotherham second half cards
• Best Odds: 2.20
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 5/10

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Juan Delgado To Be Booked: Rename him Delcardo

England, Championship, Saturday, August 19th, 15:00 (UK)

The Cards Column will feature at least one player card bet per week, and the first one in the spotlight is Sheffield Wednesday’s, Juan Delgado.

The Chilean international opened his account for the Owls in last weekend’s 4-2 defeat at Hull. But I want to reflect on his debut in front of the Sky cameras against Southampton.

His 77 minutes against the Saints saw him win one tackle and commit three fouls. One was a clattering late challenge, where Bobby Madley played an advantage but didn’t return for the card. However, Delgado was cautioned in first-half stoppage time.

So the 30-year-old is up and running for cards this term. And he’s no stranger to having his name taken by officials. He was cautioned 12 times for Pacos Ferreira last season, with 50% of those coming in home games.

Preston are the visitors to what’s likely to be a raucous Hillsborough on Saturday, and something that stood out is how the Lilywhites draw fouls from opposition forwards.

Bristol City’s Nahki Wells escaped sanction despite three fouls on the opening weekend. While in the EFL Cup, Salford striker Connor McLennan was carded for one of the two fouls.

And I think we can expect cards in this one, with Jeremy Simpson being the man in the middle. He was a top performer in my data sheets last season, hitting 40+ booking points in 22 of his 28 outings (79%) – the second-most of the referees on the Select Group 2 list.

His first game of this campaign saw him give seven cards in Oxford v Carlisle, including booking Mark Harris and substitute Gatlin O’Donkor – both forwards.

A good referee for cards with a spiky Chilean not afraid of getting stuck in can only lead me to Delgado getting booked in this one.

• Selection: Juan Delgado to be booked
• Best Odds: 10/3
• Bookmaker: Bet365
• Stake: 5/10

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Tottenham vs Man Utd: The law dished out early

England, Premier League, Saturday, August 19th, 17:30 (UK)

One of the TV games in the Premier League this weekend is Man Utd’s trip to Tottenham. And after their opening matches, there’s an angle I think we can get on board with here.

As someone who watches a lot of football, it’s felt like the new directives have seen officials across the Football League dish out many more first-half cards.

A quick look through the data shows that 57 matches across all four tiers have seen at least two cards before half-time. So, that’s 54%, with 2+ in the first half.

Last weekend, Spurs picked up four yellows in the first 45 minutes, including a James Maddison caution for talking out of turn. Man Utd, meanwhile, saw both of their cards come before the break – the 17th and 44th minutes, to be exact.

Throw in recent meetings between the sides, which I generally take with a pinch of salt with new managerial appointments and signings, but I spotted that two of their last three clashes had seen both teams receive a first-half card.

Last season’s meeting here in April saw Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg booked in the 41st minute, only to be followed by Aaron Wan-Bissake a couple of minutes later. So, that’s a card each in the first half.

England’s best referee, in my opinion, Michael Oliver, has been handed this one. His opening top-flight assignment saw him book Forest’s Ola Aina in the 28th minute, then Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber in first-half stoppage time.

In midweek, Oliver oversaw a Champions League qualifier, where he booked eight players, including one from each team, in just 17 minutes.

With more first-half cards brandished by match officials, I’ll happily take a repeat that both sides see one in the first 45 minutes.

I’m taking this bet using the William Hill Build #YourOdds feature, where it’s 2/1 – a better price than Bet365’s 6/4 offering for the same angle.

• Selection: Both teams to receive a first-half card
• Best Odds: 3.00
• Bookmaker: William Hill
• Stake: 5/10

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