Monday Football Tips: Foul your way to profit in derby clash

• Much at stake in Tees-Wear derby on Monday

• Ref one of the Championship's best for fouls

• Back fouls Bet Builder at around 2/13.00

Middlesbrough v Sunderland
Monday February 3, 20:00
Live on ITV4 & Sky Sports Football

For some, the Bet Builder tool provides a chance to shoot for the stars and back a massive price.

My last effort for this column was one such example - sadly Marc Guehi couldn't add a goal to Mikkel Damsgaard's assist to land the 83/184.00 shot. I hope you backed the single.

But it's other very useful function is get a 'normal' price out of a bunch of odds-on shots and that's where I'm taking aim for Sunday's Tees-Wear derby in the North East.

Much more than local pride will be at stake here.

Boro want to get back into the play-off spots, something they will achieve if they avoid defeat, while Sunderland need to keep tabs on the top two - they will move within three points of the automatic promotion places with victory.

It's a game which is usually pretty feisty - the card make-ups since Sunderland's return to the Championship have been 5-6-7-3-6.

That's a potential angle but my preference is to go down the fouls route. Here, the make-ups have been 23-27-27-18-21 with the outlier a game which saw a red card after 49 minutes.

The average in the Championship this season is 22.92.

Of particular relevance to my choice is the selection of referee Stephen Morton for this contest.

Of the regular Championship officials (that's those who have taken charge of six games or more), Morton has the highest fouls-per-game figure - 26.64.

Leg 1: Ben Doak to commit 1+ foul

I'm therefore going to combine the regular foulers on each side to produce a 2/13.00 shot.

For Boro, let's back Ben Doak to commit 1+ foul given he's landed this in his last 10 games.

He also committed two in a brief cameo as a substitute in the reverse fixture.

Leg 2: Jobe Bellingham to commit 1+ foul

In opposition, Jobe Bellingham makes the coupon in the same market - he's committed a foul in 22 of his 26 appearances this season.

He'll be operating in the same area of the park as Hayden Hackney, a player who is often fouled and commits plenty himself. That's a battle which should produce a free kick or two.

Leg 3: Dan Neil to commit 1+ foul

And Bellingham's team-mate Dan Neil adds the value - he's 8/131.61 for a foul, something he's managed in 11 of his last 14 league matches.

The Sunderland captain will be charged with setting the tone and he'll likely be up against Finn Aziz, another of Boro's most-fouled players. An early 'settler' would be no surprise.

Getting virtually 2/13.00 about those three all committing a foul looks a solid play to me.

More Boro v Sunderland: Read Mark O'Haire's in-depth preview!