Benfica v Porto: Supertaca chaos on the cards

• H2H and ref history suggest cards

• 7/4 Bet Builder best way to back them

• Read Betfair's new 90 Minute Payout offer here

Benfica v Porto
Wednesday 9 August, 20:45

When two of Portugal's 'Big Three' meet, it is worth cards punters taking notice.

Card figures have gone through the roof in recent years in such fixtures and this season we're kicking off with one such battle.

O Classico has seen 70+ booking points (that's 25 for a red, 10 for a yellow) in 13 of its last 14 editions. The most-recent make-ups have been 80, 125, 140, 95, 100, 110 and 105.

Now, some will point out this is a season-opener, the Supertaca being the equivalent of the English Community Shield.

Well, yes and no.

It's league v cup winners, yes, but this is a game taken much more seriously in Portugal with the trophy considered worth winning.

History suggests cards

That's reflected in the recent card counts with recent Supertaca games between the 'Big Three' - Sporting Lisbon making up the trio - having seen card tallies of 5, 11, 9 and 9.

This should be no different.

Porto boss Sergio Conceicao spoke on Tuesday about expecting a "difficult, competitive game - it's a final." The addition comment about how Porto would be "trying to win a title" said much.

Conceico also described his side as "an aggressive, intense team, very strong in duels" which tells you everything you need to know about their approach.

The referee is Luis Godinho and his track record in this fixture is great news for cards backers. He's taken charge of O Classico twice before, showing 14 cards in his 21/22 appointment and nine the previous season.

As an added boost, his other 'Big Three' game saw nine cards so history suggests he'll struggle to keep his cards in his pocket.

7/4 Bet Builder the way to go

So, what's the bet?

Card totals are unsurprisingly pretty short with over 6.5 just 2/51.40.

You'll need to be prepared to accept the theory that this is going to be highly competitive but if you do, then over 3.5 cards for each team looks to have some value attached to it at around 7/42.75.

This has occurred in six of the last 10 meetings of the sides with three of the other four only missing out by one card.

Those sort of stats suggest this should be odds-on and it's a price I'm prepared to play at.

Premier League 23/24: The best #OddsOnThat selections!