Scottish Football Tips: Kai Watson's Best Bets, August 8
It's another busy weekend north of the border with a full schedule of fixtures in the SPFL, including several eye-catching Scottish Premiership clashes.
Our Free Bets Scottish football expert, Kai Watson, runs the rule over five matches north of the border.
Scottish Football Tips
Here are Kai's five top football betting tips for the weekend action, featuring the best odds from the top UK betting sites, ensuring you get maximum value on your bets.
St Mirren vs St Johnstone - Both teams to score
I was impressed by both of these teams last weekend but before that, on paper, this looked like one of the most boring fixtures of the weekend. St. Mirren played last season's surprise package Falkirk away from home and will probably be disappointed that they only won 2-0.
Killian Phillips scored both goals with Scott Bain making a couple of impressive saves from the Irishman and preventing his hat-trick. Under Craig McLeish they are playing like I’ve never seen a St. Mirren side play before. They get the ball down, control possession but go direct when the opportunity presents itself.
Adding Samuel Ramos, who’s a real creative threat and Paul Nsio who’s a box to box runner that contributes on both ends, has really helped in their switch to play a more positive style. Sule up top is another great option who’s quick and powerful and will thrive from the midfielders and fullbacks.
St. Johnstone were electric going forward and won the game of the weekend against Kilmarnock 4-3. The front three of Fowler, Gullan and Paton constantly rotated and linked up well which is incredibly hard to defend against.
They’re also a big threat from set-pieces, especially with Gullan’s technical ability and the likes of Diabate flooding the box.
A game that no one would have had in their calendar at the beginning of the season is now one that could serve up a cracking spectacle, I think there could be goals in this one.
Arbroath vs Inverness - Inverness to win
Inverness comfortably won League One last season and will be hopeful of being able to replicate what Falkirk achieved and make it two promotions in a row. Scott Kellacher has done an excellent job at the Sarens PSG Stadium and they carried their form on with a cracking result against Dunfermline, having previously topped their League Cup Group unbeaten.
I massively respect Arboath, particularly staying as a semi-professional club in the second tier. That means they won’t get as much training time and players will be harder to attract, which should cause a massive issue but they finished third last summer in their first season back in the Championship.
Colin Hamilton and David Gold have done an incredible job there but I really think they will struggle this season/
Could Inverness be the Arbroath in the Championship this season? They have the building blocks and a good manager to do so but finding that consistency in the Championship is difficult to find.
I think Inverness will go in all guns blazing and try to get points on the board early on to take away the pressure/chat surrounding their position in the table.
It would be a bold tactic but one that’s worked for them before.
Hamilton vs Alloa - Both teams to score
Lots of Rangers fans will be tuning into how Alloa are doing, again, after they took Kyle Glasgow and Max Cameron on loan for the season. Both players have massive potential and could be big for another promotion bid after the successes of Lewis Stewart and Callum Adamson last season.
They drew 0-0 with East Fife last week which would’ve disappointed Andy Graham as they have the players there to help them get goals.
Accies went out and absolutely hammered Montrose 5-0 and that was after them having a good League Cup Group stage which included them beating Dundee United 1-0. Hamilton have one of the best teams in the division, even after selling Oli Shaw, the likes of McKinstry, Dom Thomas and Bannigan will be excellent at this level and will definitely help in their title push.
Accies are flying under Darian McKinnon but I think the two wingers Alloa have will cause enough problems for them to get a goal. That being said, if you wanted to add to this bet, I could see Hamilton outscoring Alloa and taking all three points at home.
Motherwell vs Falkirk - Motherwell to win
I previously mentioned how impressive St. Mirren were against Falkirk, which they were, but John McGlynn’s side were awful. Still high energy but absolutely no quality going forward and trying to build and create attacks, it was a big departure from the side that we watched last season.
Again, I’ve been impressed by Motherwell, two good results in Europe with a win at Easter Road in between then a draw away in Helsinki whilst showing the other side to their game. They still hassle, harry and want to get on the ball as quickly as possible but something about this team makes me think they can do even better this season.
The new signings have bedded in well and the results are definitely positive, one thing to note though, Falkirk were the only team that Motherwell didn’t beat last season!
Elgin City vs Forfar - Both teams to score
After taking a 5-0 hammering off of Hamilton in the last League Cup Group stage match, Elgin came out firing and put five past Edinburgh City with no reply. They looked so sharp and like the previous match had given them a real wake up call.
Someone like Kieran Willox could be game charger as the former Rangers man looks to try and kick start his career after an unsuccessful spell at Stoke City.
Forfar started the season with a 1-0 win against recently relegated Kelty Hearts and in Aidan Haddow could also have a player that can change the game.
Two exciting wingers and those are the players that can make all the difference, all the fullbacks on show will be hoping both of them take a wrong turn!
This could be an exciting one on paper as both teams will be hoping they can end the season nearer to the top of the table than the bottom.
More Football Tips
Explore our expert football betting tips for all the action over the weekend.
From in-depth form guides to key betting insights, we've got you covered with thoroughly researched picks.
