Football Tips: Kai Watson's Scottish Acca, February 14
It's a busy weekend North of the border, and below on Free Bets we've got five Scottish picks from Kai Watson to guide you through Saturday's games.
Football Tips: Kai's Five Best Bets in Scotland
Here are Kai's top five football betting tips for the weekend, with his full reasoning below.
Dundee vs Livingston - Dundee to win
Almost everyone in Scottish football doubted the appointment of Steven Pressley and many predicted he would be the first manager sacked this season. However, after a tough start to the season they had a decent run towards the end of December/start of January and won three games in a row, including a derby win at Tannadice.
Since then, their performances haven’t brought the results they probably deserve and that’s why they’re still sitting in tenth. They were in the game against Rangers at Ibrox until injury time when the home side scored twice. They went away to St. Mirren and probably came away frustrated at only drawing 0-0, especially after Jake Young’s red card.
They went to Celtic Park last week and shocked a lot of people with their positivity and ability to knock the ball around, particularly as an away side against Celtic. They took the lead through an Ethan Hamilton screamer, a goal he’s deserved with how well he’s been performing recently.
It took a 97th minute equaliser from Junior Adamu to take the game to extra-time and then it was just two minutes into the extra period when Tounetki scored the winner. They came out of that game getting a lot of plaudits for their bravery and quality at times.
Livingston are a poor side, despite almost sneaking a point at Celtic Park, they’ve conceded 13 goals in the last five games and look destined for relegation. They haven’t won since August and genuinely don’t look like changing that anytime soon.
The decision to move David Martindale upstairs and Marvin Bartley into the managers seat is a baffling one for me, they seem like a club that needs fresh ideas and a fresh set of eyes and this move provides none of that.
I don’t expect them to come away from Dens with anything this weekend.
Falkirk vs Dundee United - Both Teams to Score
I think this will be a good match, Falkirk play some nice, attacking and expansive football and constantly look threatening going forward. Dundee United hadn’t scored in three matches before playing against Hibs last midweek and Jim Goodwin will be furious that they didn’t hold on for a win.
They had a free weekend before their home tie against Aberdeen on Wednesday was postponed due to the Tannadice pitch. This one will definitely be on however and I’m predicting a match where both teams go for it. United need to be more aggressive in all aspects of their play and with how Falkirk play, if they can get their press right, they will get plenty of chances.
Falkirk’s win against Dundee took them level on points with Hibs and 11 clear of Aberdeen, though they have two games in hand. Dundee United will be looking to pull away from the bottom of the league and closer to the top six, although it will be hard to catch Falkirk now.
If they have any aspirations of making the top six, then they need to go for a win at the Falkirk Stadium, another reason why I think this will be an open match!
Hibs vs St. Mirren - Hibs to win
Hibs will probably count themselves unfortunate not to have come away with three points against Rangers at Easter Road, given that the away side offered no threat going forward, aside from a Mikey Moore offside goal.
They then mounted an impressive late comeback against Dundee United with a last minute Ross Graham own goal equalising before Ante Suto scored a 93rd minute winner with a cracking header. In the game at Tynecastle on Tuesday, neither side offered much going forward but Hibs will count themselves unlucky to have conceded that late Magnusson winner.
I think Hibs recruited really well in January and only spent a minimal amount of the fee they received for Kieron Bowie. Elding, Scarlett and Suto offer great options in forward areas, Passlack offers plenty of experience, as does Garananga and Kai Andrews has Premiership experience from being at Motherwell last season.
They will bounce back from that Hearts defeat and I predict it will be immediately against St. Mirren. Stephen Robinson’s side would have been hoping that home victory against Hearts would represent a turning point in their league campaign but after that they were poor against Airdrie and were beaten by Kilmarnock on Wednesday at Rugby Park.
They just can’t find any type of consistency and struggle both with scoring and conceding goals, they are in real danger of falling into the bottom two places in my opinion.
Dunfermline vs Partick - Both Teams to Score
This is another match that has the potential to be a cracker. Both teams have been inconsistent in recent weeks but both have the potential to beat any team in the league. Dunfermline went from beating league leaders St. Johnstone to getting beat by Airdrie, Partick went from losing to Ross County to beating Ayr United and drawing with St. Johnstone a couple of weeks ago.
Both teams have plenty of firepower with Andy Tod and Logan Chalmers being a couple of key players to look out for. Dunfermline need to get back to winning ways to get back into the play-off spots and Partick need to keep winning to maintain their pressure on St. Johnstone.
That should make this a pretty open game and one I’m excited about!
Stenhousemuir vs Montrose - Stenhousemuir to win
Stenhousemuir have won three out of their last five and they’re only three points behind current leaders Inverness. Stenny have the second best defensive record in the league and Montrose don’t boast a massive attacking threat.
The home side held Falkirk to a 0-0 for 90 minutes and were excellent defensively, at home and with how solid they have been, I can’t see Montrose posing a big enough threat offensively to come away with a win.
A comfortable home win is my prediction in this one.
More Football Tips
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