CARD KING Gavin Murphy (@GamePlanGavin) highlights an angle from Wednesday night’s Copa del Rey action in the Basque Country.
Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona | Wednesday 20.00
It's Copa Del Rey time again as Barcelona travel north to San Mames to battle Athletic Bilbao.
These two met in the league at the weekend in a game Barca won easily after the Bilbao goalkeeper saw red in the opening few minutes. Nevertheless, there were still six cards shown in what became a procession for the hosts.
A hostile environment awaits this time as the Spanish cup starts to reach the nitty gritty. Athletic will surely have the hump and be buoyed by the Catalans potential loss of Lionel Messi through injury and Luis Suarez’s suspension.
Barca boss Luis Enrique has questioned the appointment of referee Jose Luis Gonzalez Gonzalez ahead of this game and accordingly he will be under huge pressure.
The Blaugrana’s gripe is that the official has a Real Madrid bias. But they also claim he was far too lenient to Espanyol's bully boys during the recent league derby.
Still, the whistblower still issued eight cautions despite the accusation that day and his La Liga average is 6.30 cards-per-game.
Gonzalez officiated one of the Spanish Super Cup final legs between these two clubs last year and dished out 10 cards that day.
Bet365 are the only firm I've seen price this up. With the pressure on the referee big time, I think we can confidently back Over 6 Cards on the Asian line at 17/20.
*William Hill have now made Over 55 Bookings Points an 8/11 shot – so this is Gavin's new recommendation – if you're new to Bookings 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.*
Best Bets
*Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona – Over 55 Bookings Points (8/11 William Hill)*
Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona – Over 6 Cards on the Asian line (17/20 Bet365)
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