Ben Whiteman was a major part of that. Whilst he committed no fouls in the match, he still went into three tackles on the night. The line for a repeat of that seems quite high, especially given his recent numbers, and also the predicted lineup for Preston.

The predicted team news has Whiteman in the midfield with Alfie Devine and Jordan Thompson. Whilst Thompson tends to be quite a high fouler, he isn’t actually a high-volume tackler. Thompson is down at 0.88 tackles per 90 minutes, whilst Alfie Devine is mainly in the team for his athleticism and on-ball attacking capabilities; he is at 1.5 tackles per 90. This makes Whiteman, at 1.79 tackles per 90, the most prolific tackler in the Preston midfield, if the team news is accurate.

Whiteman has hit this line in two of his last three matches, so he has recent form in being able to make this line pay out. Taking a longer term view, he has hit the line in four of his last ten starts, a 40% ratio, whereas the odds on Bet365 suggest a 27% chance, so we are getting a decent margin on a 10-match sample size.

The margins look to be bigger on the Bocat side of the double, though. The Stoke left-back has been attracting fouls very regularly on his return to the side.

He has been fouled seven times in his last three starts, hitting this line on each occasion. This is obviously a small sample size, but it perhaps also represents a bit of a shift in the way that Stoke are approaching their matches at the moment. They have scored six in their last two, and have been fouled 13 and 14 times in those matches, against a season average of 10 fouls against them per match.

Extending Bocat’s sample out to his last 10 starts for Stoke, he has hit the two or more fouls drawn line in five of those, an obvious 50% hit rate. The odds here imply a 33% chance of landing, so again, there is a decent margin in these odds for us.

It isn’t easy to work out who Preston will have lined up against Bocat directly. Potentially Pol Valentin or Odel Offiah, both of whom run at around one foul per 90. Daniel Jebbison could be tasked with covering that area from a wide forward position, too, and he is a more regular fouler at 1.78 per 90.