Cakir may make Man Utd v Real Madrid a Champions League card-fest

Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir has gained a bit of a reputation for being a keen brandisher of cards and therefore the bookings markets may be the place to make some money in the Champions League second leg between Manchester United and Real Madrid.

When betting on bookings, a points system is used, with 10 points awarded for a yellow card and 25 for a red.

Man Utd have not had a single player cautioned in their three games since drawing at the Bernabeu and only three bookings were registered in the first meeting between the pair.

This may lead some punters into taking the 23/10 on offer that under 35 booking points are accrued at Old Trafford.

However, there are reasons to believe that with plenty more on the line here, far more referee involvement will be required and 23/20 looks decent value that over 55 booking points will feature in this one.

One thing that will help in this regard is if a red card is handed out and Cakir has sent someone off in two of his last four fixtures in either the Champions League or Europa League.

Furthermore, with four of Real Madrid’s last six games witnessing at least one sending off, 23/10 for a red card to be shown at Old Trafford has some appeal.

Something else of note is that Cakir has been in the man in the middle for 10 Champions League or Europa League fixtures since the start of last season and on eight occasions, the away team have collected the most booking points.

Therefore, the 9/10 available on Real Madrid collecting the most booking points here is really hard to oppose, alongside the 3/10 that at least one card is dished out in the period between the 75th minute and the final whistle at the end of normal time.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.