Bookings: Sparks may fly in high-stakes Championship play-off contest

CARD king Gavin Murphy (@GamePlanGavin) is back to attack Wednesday night’s Championship play-off semi-final second leg from Hillsborough.

Sheffield Wednesday v Huddersfield | Wednesday 19:45 | Sky Sports

Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town slug it out on Wednesday night for the right to play Reading in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

The tie is perfectly poised at 0-0 following the first leg at Huddersfield and a sold out Hillsborough should be bouncing as two combustible teams and managers get it on.

The first leg saw five yellow cards issued by Paul Tierney.

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Predictably the FA have appointed experienced Premier League whistleblower Andre Marriner for this game. He averages 4.2 cards per-game in all competitions this term. Martin Atkinson has been dour lately yet even he managed five yellows as Reading advanced past Fulham.

The stats

The head-to-head record between Wednesday and Huddersfield shows an average of 4 cards per-game. This season the Owls averaged 1.83 cards per-game and the Terriers 2.02.

Player wise, Adam Reach of Wednesday (9/2 SkyBet) and Chris Lowe (7/2 William Hill) are statistically most likely to get a card as they ranked 39th and 41st respectively of all Championship players during the regular season.

The betting angle

Reach was carded in the first leg. Personally, if I were doing this market, I’d be looking at Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannon (7/2 William Hill) if he plays.

I think a red card is a big runner in this contest at 10/3 (William Hill).

I can see sparks flying late on. However, I’m keeping it simple by backing Over 45 Bookings Points at 21/20 with William Hill. Bet365 have this as a 4/6 shot so Hills are offering value.

If you’re new to Booking Points – a yellow card earns 10 points and a red card earns 25 points. If a player receives 2 yellow cards and is consequently shown a red card, he receives a total of 35 Booking Points.