If the opening weekend of the EFL was anything to go by then betting on cards in a cup game might be profitable. Or I might be clinically insane, who knows?

The new EFL rules set out to officials regarding time-wasting and dissent saw a huge increase in card averages albeit it’s only the first round of fixtures, data taken from @MarkOHaire on Twitter or X as it’s now known is shown here:

Betfair/Paddy Power are a standout price at 2.75 (7/4) for each team to receive 2 or more cards each in Wrexham vs Wigan tonight, however, their card rules do differ from other bookies and a red card would only count as 1 card for this bet. Betfair/Paddy Power are also best priced for each team to have 3 or more cards each at 11.00 (10/1) which I’m chancing at the price on offer given the referee’s general approach at the weekend.

To find this bet go to either the #OddsOnThat (Betfair) or #WhatOddsPaddy (Paddy Power) market - Up to 9/1 for Each team to have 2+ cards bet & the 10/1 - 24/1 section for Each Team to have 3+ Cards.

The man in the middle for this one is Sam Allison who dished out 7 cards in the match he took charge of between Portsmouth & Bristol Rovers on Saturday with a 4-3 card split. Wrexham’s game saw 5 cards (2-3 split) & Wigan’s game saw 4 cards (2-2 split)

Huddersfield look set to heavily rotate their starting XI from Saturday’s loss to Plymouth meanwhile Michael Carrick has stated he’s “desperate” for his ‘Boro side to advance into the next round of the cup, although he has stated he’ll make a couple of changes in his team selection.

Boro’s new signing Samuel Silvera could get his first start against the Terriers after impressing in pre-season, finding the back of the net against Rotherham United & Bradford City. Silvera signed from Australian side Central Coast Mariners in the summer, he scored 8 goals in 29 appearances. He was on the scoresheet every 238 minutes he played on average last season in the A-League, tallying 1.8 shots per game.

If he is to start against a rotated Huddersfield side, the 5.50 (9/2) for Silvera to score anytime with Bet365 looks a decent enough price and is worth a punt. I couldn’t put anyone off backing the Aussie to bag a brace at 41.00 (40/1) with the same firm if he does start!

Along the same line of thought as the Silvera bet above, Millwall’s match-winner from their trip to the Riverside may benefit from squad rotation and be awarded his first professional start after netting his first senior goal off the bench at the weekend. Romain Esse is 5.00 (4/1) with most bookies to find the back of the net for the second game in succession against Reading in the cup and if he is rewarded with a start, it looks like a generous price.

Esse’s goal at the weekend was a superb, curling left-footed effort as shown below. More of the same from the 18-year-old, please!