Most punters when looking to bet on bookings in football will tell you that derby matches are the ones most likely to end in a card fest.

Certainly there’s no love lost between clubs who have to share a city or who have to fight over bragging rights in an area of their country. But does that mean that derbies are more likely to end up in a tear up than any other game? Or do bookies tend to overprice their bookings betting markets for these fixtures?

With wounded animal Manchester United facing their ‘noisy neighbours’ Manchester City at Old Trafford tonight, what better time to look a little closer at betting on yellow and red cards – and also highlight the top 10 dirtiest matches ever when it comes to betting on ill-discipline.

Fixed odds bookings betting v spread betting on Bookings

First up, let’s take a quick look at how to bet on bookings in football. With traditional fixed odds betting, bookmakers may give you a price on the likelihood of there being a red card in a match or a price for there being over or under a set amount of yellow cards. Prices can relate to the full game, per team or for the first half or the second half. All interesting and good fun.

However, spread betting on bookings or red cards can offer even more opportunities. Here the spread betting firms will offer a Bookings spread, which is based on 10 points being awarded per yellow card and 25 per red, with a maximum of 35 points awarded to one player.

You can also bet on the Bookings spread per team, the Bookings Supremacy (how many more bookings or red cards one team will get over another) and First Half Bookings. Note that yellow or red cards given after the final whistle do not count in relation to spread betting settlement.

For bigger games – such as the Manchester derby this evening – you can even play a spread bet on Player Card Minutes. This is where each player is given a spread which settles on the minute they receive a booking, or the minutes doubled for when they receive a red card.

So if Wayne Rooney was to get booked in the 90th minute, his Player Card Minutes would make up at 90. But if he was to be given a straight red in the 90th minute his Player Card Minutes would make up at 180. And if he was booked in the 90th minute and then given a subsequent second yellow, and thus a red, moments later and before the final whistle, his Player Card Minutes would settle at 270.

Betting on bookings in-play

With the main Bookings spread betting markets updated live in-play you can see how these prices can offer a great opportunity for punters with an astute reading of the game to try and turn a profit. However, it’s also important to remember that Bookings spread bets which go against you can mean losses more than your original stake size.

Anyway, back to the original question. Is it derby matches which are sure to lead to high Bookings make-ups? Well if you look at the spread betting statistics, it wouldn’t necessarily seem so.

In fact there’s another common denominator that more immediately springs to attention. If you fancy betting on bookings it seems it’s Spain’s La Liga, where you’re more likely to see a free for all.

Top 10 dirtiest matches for football betting

1. Athletic Bilbao 2 Racing Santander 1, La Liga, 26/4/09
Spread betting Bookings make-up: 255
The mother of all smash ups. No fewer than five red cards and 13 yellows were brandished in this brawl of an encounter in which Fernando Llorente and David Lopez struck for the hosts.

2. Espanyol 1 Barcelona 3, La Liga, 13/12/03
Spread betting Bookings make-up: 220
It’s a surprise there were enough players left on the field for this game to finish as six red cards were shown in a 3-1 Barca win secured by a Patrick Kluivert brace and Ronaldinho goal.

3. Portugal 1 Holland 0, World Cup, 25/6/06
Spread betting Bookings make-up: 220
Russian referee Valentin Ivanov set a new World Cup record for yellow and red cards when 12 players were booked and four shown second yellows as Maniche’s strike won this last 16 clash.

4. Atletico Madrid 1 Getafe 0, La Liga, 9/12/07
Spread betting Bookings make-up: 210
Both sides had two players sent off each while yellow cards were scattered about like confetti as a 20th minute strike from Diego Forlan was enough to separate two very bad-tempered sides.

5. Valencia 2 Espanyol 1, La Liga, 17/11/2012
Spread betting Bookings make-up: 190
Roberto Soldado, now struggling at Spurs, hit the winner from the spot for Valencia after Espanyol were reduced to nine men and another 12 players were booked.

6. Getafe 0 Zaragoza 2, La Liga, 13/5/12
Spread betting bookings make-up: 180
Getafe ended the game with just eight men and Zaragoza themselves had a man sent off as Helder Postiga and Apono scored the goals to help the visitors avoid the drop.

7. Valencia 3 Sevilla 1, La Liga, 19/4/09
Spread betting bookings make-up: 175
In all 15 players were shown yellow cards with Adriano getting a second yellow and subsequently a red for the visitors as Valencia won thanks to strikes from David Villa, Juan Mata and Pablo.

8. Bastia 1 AC Ajaccio 0, Ligue 1, 2/3/13
Spread betting bookings make-up: 175
Four red cards in the 90th minute saw an acrimonious end to this Corsican derby – and things got so bad that the clubs were ordered to play both this season’s encounters behind closed doors.

9. Getafe 1 Malaga 2, La Liga, 8/3/09
Spread betting bookings make-up: 170
There had only been one booking 35 minutes into this clash, but after that all hell broke loose as Ivan Cuadrado and Roberto Soldado saw red and a host of others were booked in a 2-1 Malaga win.

10. Sampdoria 3 Udinese 0, Serie A, 13/1/14
Spread betting bookings make-up: 165
Allan Loureiro’s sending off for a second yellow in the 35th minute set the tone for this bad-tempered affair, which saw two further sendings off as the hosts cantered to victory.