The Cards Column Tips: A new season brings hope of cards

The Premier League is back a week after the return of the EFL. And so is The Cards Column! We’ve once again tasked Matt Kirby with providing the referee appointments, ref and card data, plus some of his favourite picks from across the English pyramid.

• Chelsea vs Man City: Chelsea Most Cards & Over 1.5 Chelsea cards
• Sunderland vs Sheffield Wednesday: Yann Valery To Be Booked
• Plymouth vs Hull: Lewie Coyle To Be Booked

Referee Appointments in the Premier League, Championship, League One and Two: Taylor and Chelsea meet again

The standout clash on the opening weekend of the Premier League sees champions Man City visit Chelsea. And Blues fans will be delighted to see Anthony Taylor appointed to the fixture after his run-ins with the club down the years.

Rob Jones is tasked with officiating the curtain-raiser at Old Trafford between Man Utd and Fulham. While there are games for Tony Harrington and rising star Sam Barrott.

This is where I’ll note a couple of things. Firstly, there doesn’t seem to have been the same directives asked of officials for the start of this season compared to last. Howard Webb has talked about allowing games to flow with a higher threshold for fouls. But there is talk of a potential clampdown on holding from set-pieces – I’m having flashbacks of the Mike Dean crusade a few seasons ago! 

Here’s where it might be quite interesting. Last weekend’s EFL games averaged just 3.6 cards per game compared to 5.7 in the opening weekend of the 2023/24. This might be a case of referees allowing games to flow and better player behaviour. 

I’m still expecting referees to clamp down on dissent, delaying the restart and time-wasting, but those weren’t necessarily seen last weekend on the evidence of such a low cards-per-game average.

Talking of last weekend, there are second Championship games for Sam Allison and John Busby. Both refs showed five cautions in their opening games last weekend. But a prolific card issuer in 23/24, Bobby Madley only managed to brandish one caution – he’s at Pride Park for Derby v Middlesbrough.

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Chelsea vs Man City: Blues by name, yellow by nature

England, Premier League, Sunday, August 18th, 16:30 (UK)

The game of the weekend in the Premier League comes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon when Chelsea entertain champions Man City. It’s probably not the first game Enzo Maresca will have been hoping to get.

Pep Guardiola’s men ran out 4-2 winners when the sides met in Columbus and even that saw four cards. So much for a friendly!

My bet for this game has to revolve around Chelsea. I’m taking the hosts to receive the most cards and get two or more in the game. Combine those two outcomes for a 1.80 angle with the bet365 Bet Builder.

The Blues collected the most yellows (105) in the Premier League last season – an average of 2.8 per game. 

And it’s hard to ignore an angle that landed in all three league and cup meetings between the sides last season. Those games had card counts of: 

• Chelsea 5-3 Man City
• Man City 1-3 Chelsea
• Man City 2-3 Chelsea (FA Cup)

If Chelsea pick up those three cautions once more, I’m fairly confident we’ll be getting a payout! 

I’m sure the home faithful will give a welcoming reception to their old friend Anthony Taylor. They don’t have history, do they? 

Well, last season, Taylor showed more cautions than any other top-flight referee (130). And in his four Chelsea games, he booked 3, 5, 5 & 2 players in blue shirts.

That all makes the 1.80 angle quite attractive. But if you want a player angle, it’s hard to ignore Moises Caicedo. He was booked in all three games against the champions in 2023/24. Plus, he saw yellow inside 14 minutes of their pre-season friendly in the States. He’s short enough in most places, but Unibet’s 3.6 looks fine.

• Selection: Chelsea most cards & over 1.5 Chelsea cards (TRACKED BET)
• Best Odds: 1.80
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 10/10

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Yann Valery To Be Booked: Come on over, Valery. The ref wants a word!

England, Championship, Sunday, August 18th, 12:00 (UK)

The first player pick of the season also comes up on Sunday. This time we drop into the Championship for the lunchtime game between Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday.

Both sides made positive starts, with Sunderland running out 2-0 winners at Cardiff and Wednesday wiping the floor with a poor Plymouth side. 

During that game at Hillsborough, we saw Yann Valery commit four fouls – one of six players to do so – but the full-back somehow escaped punishment.

Valery could be in for another busy afternoon with him likely to face Jack Clarke. The tricky Sunderland winger was the second-most-fouled player in the division last season, according to Fbref (95), so he has a knack for drawing fouls.

A Stadium of Light crowd that’ll be buzzing to welcome new manager Regis Le Bris could help the atmosphere and the pressure on the referee if Valery oversteps the mark.

Dean Whitestone is the man tasked with this game. He wasn’t ideal for cards last season, averaging 3.1 cards per 90 and awarding 21.6 free kicks. But I’m hoping the experienced whistler is forced to act if the Owls right-back persistently commits fouls, as he did against Plymouth.

I was hoping to add some foul prices, but Sky Bet haven’t yet added them. I presume they will as they’re showing the game, so they’re something to look for. But the 4.00 for a Valery card is good enough for me.

• Selection: Yann Valery to be booked (TRACKED BET)
• Best Odds: 4.00
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 5/10

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Plymouth vs Hull: Enter Cissoko and Mumba

England, Championship, Saturday, August 17th, 15:00 (UK)

I don’t usually do two player picks, but there are limited markets with Sky yet to release some of theirs at the time of writing. So, I’m taking some of the above narrative and following it into Hull’s visit to Plymouth – a long, old journey!

A late Oscar Estupinan penalty saved the Tigers on the opening day, in Tim Walter’s first game in charge. Now they have the chance to notch their maiden win under the German against a hapless Plymouth side.

Just how many alarm bells were ringing as the Pilgrims went down at Hillsborough? It didn’t look like a side that had been well drilled and I thought some of Wayne Rooney’s post-match comments could quite quickly alienate players within the dressing room. I give him five/six weeks before he’s axed!

Despite being dreadful on Sunday, Plymouth’s only ray of light came through Ibrahim Cissoko. The 21-year-old has bundles of energy and was something of a thorn in Wednesday’s right side. 

The winger drew six fouls on his Championship debut, and I’m hoping Rooney drafts Bali Mumba back in to play behind Cissoko. Mumba won three free kicks in Wednesday’s cup win, so that pair could be a handful for Hull’s Lewie Coyle.

Despite the managerial change, I’ll state only Birmingham (59) picked up more yellows than Hull (58) in away games last season. So, if the Tigers show their claws once more, Coyle could end up getting booked.

The defender has only seen nine cautions in the last two seasons, but the prospect of him dealing with Cissoko and Mumba is a chance I can’t pass up.

Referee Leigh Doughty can go off like a bottle of pop when it comes to dishing out his cards. He averaged 4.5 cards per game last season, which was slightly below par for him!

Doughty’s final game of last season looked like a relative dead rubber between Coventry and Hull. Yet, he still produced six yellows, four going to Tigers’ players. More of the same, Leigh!

Plymouth will have to get on the front foot to give their faithful something to get excited about. Cissoko and Mumba are players who can do that, so I’m hoping Coyle puts a stop to that by foul means. At 4.75 for a card, he’s the one to wrap up for this week.

• Selection: Lewie Coyle to be booked (TRACKED BET)
• Best Odds: 4.75
• Bookmaker: bet365
• Stake: 5/10

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