Jones Knows Notebook: Back master of dark arts Harry Kane to win two fouls at 7/5 | OneFootball

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Harry Kane is an absolute master of the dark arts. This isn't a bad thing. Far from it. This subtle, intelligent, referee-manipulating craft is one that only the elite truly perfect.

Goal scoring? Of course. Hold-up play? Textbook. Passing range? Ridiculously good for a striker. But Kane's superpower that continues to slip under the radar? Drawing fouls. It's what the great forwards have always done - it's a side of Alan Shearer that wasn't celebrated enough. Like Shearer, Kane just does it with such mechanical precision that we often forget it's a skill.

He baits defenders and invites contact. He does it legally, cleverly and consistently. And when you combine that with defenders who simply can't help themselves around him, you get a quietly reliable betting angle across his to be fouled markets with Betfair.

Since signing for Bayern Munich, Kane has won 49 fouls in 29 Champions League games working to an average of 1.7 fouls won per 90. Only Jude Bellingham has won more fouls in the competition over that period.

The bigger the stage the bigger Kane's fouls won averages for club and country. From 25 starts for England at a major tournament, he's won 58 fouls - over two per game.

There should be more of the same from Kane on Wednesday night when Bayern Munich head to Arsenal. The Premier League leaders know all about Kane who has been a thorn in their side for a decade. Not only does he score against them but manipulates the game-state in ways that unsettle their rhythm.

Even now, wearing Bayern red instead of Tottenham white, the dynamic feels familiar: Arsenal defenders trying to play on the front foot, Kane dropping in, drawing them into the trap by winning a foul. In his two appearances for Bayern against the Gunners, in the 23/24 Champions League quarter-final, he won nine fouls across the two legs. That included winning six fouls in the first leg in north London.

He's going to drop into many back-to-goal situations which naturally attract pressure from the Arsenal centre-backs who are encouraged to engage and perhaps dangle a leg in his direction from a midfielder.

Kane is going to invite contact, roll with it and force the referee to make a decision. In a big game, involving the two market leaders for the Champions League, Kane's to be fouled prices are of strong interest with his two or more line at 7/5 standing out as a bet worth landing on.