Free betting tips and match preview: Bradford City v Harrogate Town
The Monday night football comes from Sky Bet League Two where Bradford take on Harrogate. Tom Carnduff has three best bets.
Recommended bets
1pt Josh Falkingham to be shown a card at 4/1
1pt Elliot Watt to be shown a card at 10/3
0.5pts Elliot Watt to be sent off at 50/1
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Bradford v Harrogate
- 19:45 BST on Sky Sports Football
- Match odds: Home 11/8 | Draw 23/10 | Harrogate 9/5
The international break presents the opportunity for League One and League Two football to be televised and Monday night is a Yorkshire derby from the fourth tier as Bradford welcome Harrogate.
Both sides have seen a mixed start to the campaign but Harrogate will be the happier of the two as they adjust to life in the Sky Bet EFL. The five points from four games puts them in mid-table, although standings are largely irrelevant at this stage, and another point looks a decent bet at 23/10 in this contest.
What should be a feature of this game is cards. Harrogate top the average fouls per game charts with 15.8 while Bradford sit on 14.3. Bradford have seen two reds so far in this campaign but it's a surprise to see neither side above six total cards this season; they could consider themselves very lucky when comparing that to fouls.
That presents value in the bookings market and one name who stands out is Elliot Watt at a price of 10/3. The 18-year-old is starting to establish himself as an important part of the Bradford midfield and netted a goal in the 2-2 draw at Forest Green.
He already has two cards across all competitions this season and that can be put down to his determined style in the middle of the pitch. Watt is sixth in the league for average fouls per game (2.7) while he also sees 1.7 tackles per 90 in the league. We can expect that to continue against another team who post a high tackle count.
What is interesting is how two of the division's top-five average tackle makers are in the Harrogate midfield. Lloyd Kerry (4.7) and Josh Falkingham (4) have lined up alongside each other in the middle of the park for the visitors; similar here could create a really intense midfield battle.
Kerry sits on 2.7 fouls per game while Falkingham is on 2.5. There's a good chance that the foul count between the three midfield players mentioned will be made by mistimed/tactical tackles on each other.
Falkingham presents the best value at 4/1 anytime while a red card can be found at 40/1. When it comes to the bigger-priced bets, Watt is worth a small play at 50/1 to be sent off; we're thinking a couple of yellows rather than a straight red when it comes to this.
Other names of interest in the cards market are Aaron Martin (2.5 fouls per game) at 6/1 and Kurtis Guthrie (2.7 fouls per game) at 11/2. While there is reluctance to back forwards in this area, they could also represent great value if that overall fouls count is high.
The best outright result comes in sitting on the fence here in what could become quite a tight game. Instead though, given what we've seen from the two sides so far, Darren Drysdale could be in for a busy night as referee and the midfield is the area of focus.
Score prediction: Bradford 1-1 Harrogate (Sky Bet odds: 11/2)
Best bets:
Odds correct at 1215 BST (10/10/20)
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