MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 07: Manuel Ugarte of Manchester United looks on during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Old Trafford on February 07, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Manchester United’s Manuel Ugarte is a card magnet
Add insults to injuries and we could be in for a spicy one as Tottenham host Manchester United.
Both line-ups look set to be full of Plan B faces (4.30pm), a likely home fans’ protest could raise the heat, and there should also be a bit of previous on the menu.
Two meetings this season produced 14 yellows and a straight red.
Spurs’ 0-3 win in the reverse fixture was one of many nails in Eric ten Hag’s coffin – and the subsequently overturned first-half sending off for Bruno Fernandes one of many hammer blows.
United’s discipline, in all senses, has been a sore point this term, with Fernandes – three reds – an eyecatching offender.
But Manuel Ugarte is the card magnet to have on our side here. The Uruguay man has been practically a coin-flip to get a yellow when starting – take 11/5 (Bet365) he is ‘shown a card’ here.
Harry Maguire commits far fewer fouls per 90min than Ugarte, but is ‘shown a card’ almost as often – which feels unfair unless you’re on at 14/5 (Unibet).
And bet Fernandes ‘scores from outside box’ against a possibly rusty keeper at 14/1 (Bet365).
Liverpool won just three of the final 15 Merseyside derbies at Goodison Park, drawing 10, which puts midweek’s 2-2 ‘set-back’ into perspective. Normal service.
The standard Prem result at Anfield for visitors Wolves (2pm) is zero points – nine of the past 10 – and they have leaked so many goals this season it seems futile to look past ‘same again’ angles.
The stats says Kop machine Mo Salah is about as reliably ‘same again’ as a man can be – ‘OVER 0.5 assists’ at 9/5 (Lads) and ‘anytime scorer’ at 3/4 (Unibet) are both more than fair.
Over in Italy, back draw kings Juventus to record their EIGHTH ‘no scorer’ result of the season at 17/2 (Skybet) when Inter visit (8pm).
This week is my last as Betting Spy here trying to winkle out the value prices. Happily, there are many, many more markets to be given a winkling than when I started on this column 15 years ago - football punters have never had it so good.
Two ‘scores a header’ pokes to finish: Virgil van Dijk can exploit Wolves’ set-piece wobbles (2pm) at 21/2 and Harry Maguire will rattle Tottenham (4.30pm) at 15/1.
Both look worth a single and the double pays 183/1 (Unibet). Good luck!
Last week: Winner at 6/5