Dundee Derby: How ‘friendly’ is this inter-city duel?
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The headline fixture across the Ladbrokes Premiership this weekend unquestionably comes from Tannadice as Dundee make the short trip across the road to face City rivals United.
Both sides have more than just pride to play for, with Mixu Paatelainen’s hosts desperately trying to avoid relegation, and Paul Hartley’s Dees looking to bag a top-half position ahead of the split.
Though regarded by some as a friendly derby, this contest has seen plenty of drama down the years, with no fewer than 63 yellow cards and nine reds dished out in the last 14 league meetings. Friendly it isn’t.
We’ve done the homework and compared this local scrap with some of the biggest derbies in Europe…
The Dundee derby’s card count is pretty much on a par with Arsenal and Tottenham’s north London battle, with 65 yellows and three reds seen in the last 14 league clashes.
But it’s over on the continent where referees really earn their crust, with 83 yellows and nine dismissals in the Milan derby across 14 fixtures.
The Istanbul battle sees a similar number with 87 yellows and nine reds between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, but over in Madrid things get even more out of hand.
The Spanish capital has witnessed a staggering 102 yellow cards across the last 14 contests, in addition to two reds. That’s an average of 7.2 yellows per game. We haven’t had time to find out how many were for diving or play-acting…
But back to the Dundee contest this weekend, and hosts United are 7/5 for victory, with the Dees at 19/10.
Dundee haven’t won any of their last seven trips to Tannadice, and that might be all you need to know to back our price boost of United to win and both teams to score from 10/3 to 4/1.
United have been markedly improved in 2016, winning three of their last seven league contests, while Dundee have seen their top-half hopes really suffer of late.
Hartley’s men have prevailed just once in their last seven and with their dodgy record at Tannadice in recent years, it’s United who could be the taking the City’s bragging rights this weekend.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
