Football Bet of the Day: 24/1 card treble for Championship play-off final

We’ve got plenty of football action coming our way on what should be an action-packed Saturday afternoon, but the headline act is the Championship play-off final between Sheffield United and Sunderland at Wembley (15:01, Sky Sports Main Event). 

That takes our focus for the Football Bet of the Day where I’ve taken a look at the card market. 

Sheffield United vs Sunderland Odds

It feels like this is not going to be a free-flowing and exciting game of football - Championship play-off finals so rarely are. The last four have all seen under 2.5 goals as the two teams try to figure each other out and limit any potential mistakes that could cost them promotion. 

With these two teams both able to defend and both capable of setting up in a frustrating 4-4-2 low block, I don’t want to predict a match winner or a goalscorer. Instead I’m looking to the cards market as we have three fairly reliable players to select when it comes to picking up bookings. 

We’ve all seen these finals before. The referee will look to keep things calm early on but players won’t be afraid of picking up cards as the game progresses. Last season, there were eight yellows in the final between Southampton and Leeds, with Saints picking up six as they did everything possible to hold onto their one-goal lead. 

It is worth noting that there were only two cards in the 2023 final, and remarkably zero in that turgid 0-0 draw between Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest in 2022. So it all depends on how referee Chris Kavanagh is feeling, but on a positive note he did dish out six yellows for Manchester United last time out against Chelsea. 

He’s also got several tricky customers to deal with here, and I think the personnel involved in this match-up leads me to believe there will be plenty of cards on both sides. Sunderland may well play 4-4-2, as they did in the semi-final and that means they can go direct to their strikers Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor.

It also means they can sit in a combative low block, with Trai Hume, Dan Ballard, Luke O’Nien and Dennis Cirkin making up the reliable back four. We’ve picked out two of these boys to pick up cards, as they come up against a Sheffield United outfit that we can expect to have more of the ball.

The first selection is Cirkin, who faces a tricky test at left-back. We don’t actually know exactly who will start on the right for Sheffield United, with Rhian Brewster, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Ben Brereton Diaz all competing for a starting spot. I wanted to pick out one of the Sunderland full-backs and although Hume has 11 cards this term in comparison to Cirkin’s eight, he will be up against Gustavo Hamer, who likes to drift infield rather than take on his man like a natural winger.

We’ve also picked out Hamer himself, who has the proud record in 2024/25 of being the most-booked player in the entire division. He picked up 13 cards this season and his hot-headed nature always means he is likely to get a card in the red and white. He will be well up for this final having scored for Coventry in the 2023 final before being forced off injured as they lost on penalties.

Football Odds

To round off this treble, I’ve picked out Luke O’Nien to also pick up a yellow card. He’s been booked nine times this season, but is Sunderland’s captain and is known for his dark arts. He is bound to do something stupid across the 90 minutes, and I’m more than happy to back him to find his way into this referee’s notebook.

This card treble pays 24/1 for the Championship play-off final.

Offers

Build your own Bet Builder bet (3/1+) of 4+ legs on Sheffield United v Sunderland and get 50% of your stake back in Free Bets up to £5 if you lose. (Credited within 24 hours)

We will be Top Price on either side to win the Championship Play-Off Final in 90 minutes with selected bookmakers using Oddschecker for the comparison. (Available from 09:30 Saturday).

Place an In-Play single bet of £10 or more at odds of 1/2+ on Sheffield United v Sunderland or Aberdeen v Celtic and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on any Premier League game on Sunday. (Credited upon Bet Settlement)

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down

You can read all our latest Football Bet of the Day offerings at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.