Betting.Betfair.com
·6 October 2024
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·6 October 2024
Juan Martinez Munuera takes charge of his first Seville derby on Sunday
Sevilla v Real BetisSunday 6 October, 17:30Live on Premier Sports 1
El Gran Derbi has long been one of Europe's best games for cards and I simply have to get involved in that angle again for the first all-Sevilla clash of the season.
I'm keen on making over 5.5 cards the foundation of Sunday's Bet Builder.
This has landed in six of the last nine derbies. The most recent saw eight cards shown, while two seasons ago we had a game which produced 12, including three reds.
The referee this time around is Juan Martinez Munuera, who will be taking charge of this fixture for the first time. He has done other derby games before though, producing seven cards in his only Madrid derby to date, while his first El Clasico appointment saw eight cards.
I'd usually look to push the price upwards via the player-card markets.
As previously talked about in this column, backing players with a strong track record in a derby is often good business. The problem here is both sides have had a big turnover of players of late so most of the regular card magnets have moved on - think Marcos Acuna and Guido Rodriguez.
Gonzalo Montiel (carded in three of four derbies) is still at Sevilla but likely to only make the bench, while Betis' William Carvalho (four in eight) is injured.
Betis midfielder Marc Roca looks a possibility at 21/10 - he's been carded in three of 10 appearances this season - but I'm going to take an alternative route and back player fouls instead.
Every one of those last nine derbies has seen at least 25 fouls. The average is 28 per game, with the highest count in the series being 33.
For the record, Munuera was bang on the league average for fouls per game last season.
For Sevilla, let's go with right-back Jose Angel Carmona for 1+ foul, something he's landed in six of his last seven games.
In this contest, he'll likely be up against the tricky Abde Ezzalzouli, a player who has been fouled 17 times in his last six appearances.
The Moroccan is 10/11 to be fouled 2+ times and also makes the cut.
Also on the Betis side of things, centre-back Diego Llorente is worth backing to commit 1+ foul.He's managed this in nine of 10 appearances since joining in the summer.
The four legs produce a Bet Builder which pays 4/1 - let the derby chaos commence!
Staked: 83pts Returned: 98.12pts P/L: +15.12pts
2023/24 P/L: +16.78pts 2022/23 P/L: +68.69pts