OUR bookings man Gavin Murphy (@GamePlanGavin) is in red hot form at the moment. Here he lines up two La Liga Sunday card bets.
Eibar v Valencia | Sunday 15:00 | Sky Sports 4
Gary Neville continues his managerial learning curve on Sunday afternoon as he takes his Valencia outfit to Eibar. Both teams are mid-table with the visitors aspiring to be much higher in the standings.
Eibar are one of Spain’s dirtiest teams collecting an average of 3.43 cards per game. Valencia are also usually good for cards with an average of 3.29.
The referee is Jose Luis Gonzalez Gonzalez. He averages 5.79. With two of the most ill disciplined teams clashing I think backing over 55pts at 4/5 with William Hill makes sense.
Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao | Sunday 17:15 | Sky Sports 4
My final selection of the weekend comes from the Spanish capital as Athletic Bilbao travel to the Vicente Calderon to tackle Atletico Madrid. I’ve recommended Atletico games a lot this season with mixed results but I’m prepared to give them another go here.
There is a history of cards in this fixture with the last four league encounters reading 8-7-8-10. Bet365 originally chalked this up as under/over 4.5 but quickly moved their line up to 5.5.
I am surprised to see that Atletico have yet to receive a red card in La Liga this term. Historically, they are dependable team for accumulating cards with the likes of Diego Godin, Juanfran and Koke in their ranks.
This term they have averaged 2.79 cards per game but that includes games where thy have walked over teams. I don’t think Bilbao will give in quite so easily. For their part, the Basque visitors average 2.21 cards per game. Again, a somewhat surprisingly low number.
The referee, Juan Martinez Munera is lenient by Spanish standards averaging 4.5 cards per game. However, this is over a limited sample size.
With Barcelona dropping points this has opened the door for Atletico and they will be keen to take full advantage. I’m backing over 5.5 cards at 5/6 with Bet365.
Best Bets
Eibar v Valencia – Over 55 Bookings Points (4/5 William Hill)
Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao – Over 5.5 Cards (5/6 Bet365)
3/1 Real Madrid To Beat Villarreal
Real destroyed Malmo 8-0 on Tuesday and now new Betfair players can back them at a massive 3/1 to win again on Sunday.
TOPICS European Football Football