Merseyside derbies rarely begin in a timid fashion.

With the atmosphere crackling and the players charged up to deliver for the fans, the opening minutes of these rivalry games are often thunderous affairs. Expect both teams to try and assert a physical tone, and in doing so, go into challenges a little more firmly.

A popular market for bettors in these circumstances is cards shown, as it’s easy to picture plenty of overzealous tackles, player spats and arguments.

But nowadays, referees are trying harder and harder to let these spicy affairs flow, and not show too many yellow cards too early, as they’re concerned that it will inevitably lead to reds later on. This adds risk to any bet placed on booking lines.

A different way to approach this is by backing early fouls. Betfair are running a special at 17/20 for each team to commit a foul in the first 10 minutes of the game (00:00 to 09:59 on the game clock).

Both the size of the occasion and the stats back it up too: Alexis Mac Allister (69), Idrissa Gueye (63) and Luis Diaz (61) are all in the top 15 for most fouls by Premier League players this season, according to PFF FC.