Football Bet of the Day: Yellow card for captain Kenny?

We’ve got a glut of Premier League fixtures coming our way on Sunday ahead of the international break, but for our Football Bet of the Day we are dropping down to the Championship for an East Anglian derby. 

Ipswich Town host Norwich City at Portman Road (12:00, Sky Sports Main Event) and I think we’ve found some value on derby day.

Ipswich Town vs Norwich City Odds

In case you didn’t know, Ipswich haven’t beaten Norwich for 16 years and that record holds a huge amount of weight in that part of the world. The Tractor Boys have now failed to beat Norwich in 14 attempts, although they do have a great chance of winning this season given the state of the two teams. 

Ipswich were pre-season favourites for the title having been relegated from the Premier League last summer, and with the best squad on paper in the Championship, they should be in the top six come May. They’ve had their own difficulties this season so far, but have now picked up with seven points in their last three. 

Norwich meanwhile have struggled at home, losing all four league games to date - but they are unbeaten on the road (W2 D2), and will be desperate to defend that unbeaten run against their fierce rivals. 

The Canaries have a great goalscoring record at Portman Road, but I’m going to stay away from predicting a result - which can prove to be difficult in these sorts of matches. Instead, I’m going to hope the fierce derby atmosphere carries onto the pitch in the form of yellow cards.

The man I’ve picked out is Kenny McLean, who has only started four games this season but has proven himself to be a key man in the Canaries’ midfield in recent weeks. Wearing the captain’s armband, he is going to have to lead by example and get stuck in. 

He’s only got one yellow so far this season but that yellow has come in just four starts, while he has committed six fouls, and been fouled nine times. The Norwich defenders are all a shorter price to pick up cards, while McLean and his midfielders will have to battle hard to get a foothold in the game. 

There’s also the chance that former Norwich man Marcelino Nunez features in midfield for Ipswich at some point, and all of those wearing yellow will want to land a blow on him after he controversially made the summer switch from Norfolk to Suffolk. 

This should be an engaging encounter to watch, and I’m expecting a few flare-ups on Sunday afternoon. McLean should be at the heart of it for Norwich, so I think the price on him to get booked is well worth backing.

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