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Kevin Bonacina will be in charge of his first Serie A match on Friday

After a 19/1 near-miss on Thursday, our football props column is sticking with the cards theme for Friday's Serie A clash in Italy...

Empoli v TorinoFriday 13 December, 19:45Live on OneFootball

There was an all-too-familiar 'close but no cigar' outcome to yesterday's 19/1 cards punt, four of the five legs winning but another point coming off this column's record.

It wasn't the first hit post of the week so moving on the Friday the 13th is hardly a welcoming prospect, but I'm going to stick with the cards and delve into Italy's Serie A.

Leg 1: Both teams over 1.5 cards

Again, we've got two teams with poor disciplinary records - only three sides have picked up more bookings than Torino, while Empoli sit seventh in that list and also top of the fouls-committed table.

The slight concern is over the referee, Kevin Bonacina.

This will be his first Serie A game and history tells me that can go two ways. Either he is keen to apply the strict letter of the law and therefore is happy to get the cards out or, not wanting to cause controversy on day one, he tries hard to keep the cards in his pocket.

The good news is his Serie B record suggests it will be the former. Bonacina is averaging over six cards per game so far this season in the second tier, while he was a fraction over five per match across last season.

In short, I'm happy to back both teams to receive over 1.5 cards in what is a mid-table battle, the sides separated by just three points.

That's landed in nine of Empoli's last 10 in all competitions and nine of Torino's last 11.

Leg 2: Sebastian Walukiewicz to be shown a card

As we saw in Thursday night's game, it's often worth heading into the player market when expecting a few cards and the man who stands out here is Torino's Sebastian Walukiewicz.

The centre-back has been carded in five of his 12 appearances since joining the club in the summer - from Empoli.

That fact could certainly have its part to play with Walukiewicz having already been booked against his former employers when these two met in the Coppa Italia recently.

The Polish international has also been carded in one of his three Nations League starts this season.

Throw in the fact he's committing 1.48 fouls per 90 minutes this season - pretty high for a centre-back - and 10/3 looks a decent price about him troubling the official again here.

11/2.

Premier League: The Opta weekend verdict, including 100/1 shot!

Recommended bets

Both teams over 1.5 cards and Sebastian Walukiewicz to be shown a card in Empoli v Torino @ around 11/2

Column P/L 2024/25

Staked: 151pts Returned: 166.93pts P/L: +15.93pts

2023/24 P/L: +16.78pts 2022/23 P/L: +68.69pts