Scottish Football Tips: Kai Watson's Best Bets, February 7
It's another busy weekend of action in the SPFL, plus the 5th round of the Scottish Cup, and Kai Watson, our Free Bets Scottish football expert, is back looking at five games north of the border.
Scottish Football Tips
Here are Kai's top five football betting tips for the weekend, complete with the best prices available from leading UK betting sites to help you maximise your returns.
Aberdeen vs Motherwell - Motherwell to win
I backed Aberdeen to win last weekend against Kilmarnock after beating Livingston 6-2 the previous weekend. I don’t think many people would have predicted the match at Rugby Park going the way that it did. Killie looked ok against Motherwell before the red card but they were relentless against the Dons, particularly in the beginning.
Within the first 15 minutes, Aberdeen were 2-0 down and effectively out of the game, Killie had plenty of chances and Peter Leven’s side didn’t create much. Then Graeme Shinnie was sent off and Killie scored a third a few minutes later. Aberdeen were never really in the game and deservedly lost in the fashion that they did.
They still don’t have a permanent manager, although an appointment looks imminent, I’d imagine it will still be Leven for this one and the players haven’t performed to their best level for him.
Both clubs' games were postponed on Wednesday and Motherwell may have been happier for the rest given how intense their playstyle is. They were incredibly comfortable away at Livingston and starman Tawanda Maswanhise scored a double to become the Premiership’s top scorer.
Jens Berthel Askou and fans alike will be delighted at keeping their star player, especially when he’s been so important and consistent in recent weeks.
Since defeat at Ibrox, Motherwell have won five and drawn one, only conceding once in the 1-1 draw against Hibs. They are one of the most in-form clubs in the country, barely concede and have dangerous players going forward.
I’m sure they will fancy another cup run having gotten to the League Cup Semi-Final and I don’t see Aberdeen being too big of a challenge for them in both teams current form.
Dunfermline vs Kelty Hearts - Both teams to score
Dunfermline have been one of the most up and down teams in the Championship in terms of form and recent weeks have proven that. They beat Raith away, Hibs at home in the last round of the cup then went to McDiarmid Park and beat league leaders St. Johnstone 1-0.
An excellent run of form that must have had Neil Lennon buzzing! Then last week they hosted, then bottom of the table, Airdrie and lost 2-0, a result indicative of what they have been doing all season. They string together a couple of excellent results then drop points in games where they really shouldn’t.
Kelty currently sit bottom of League One, in a division where two clubs have been deducted points, one of them (Hamilton) have been deducted 15 points and are still NINE clear of Kelty! They’ve conceded the most goals in the league, by a distance and have struggled to score.
HOWEVER, there’s just something about this game, maybe it’s the romance of the cup, that makes me believe that Kelty can at least get a goal. Dunfermline will likely rotate whereas Kelty should go full strength.
There’s normally always one cup shock, could it be this one?
Cove Rangers vs Queen of the South - Queen of the South to win
Queen of the South are one of the most in-form leagues in League One and currently sit in third place, just three points behind the top two, although Inverness have a game in hand. They drew with the league leaders last weekend and have only lost to second placed Stenhousemuir in their last five.
In that period, they have also scored fourteen goals and conceded seven, with four of them coming against the top two. Cove, like Kelty, sit beneath Hamilton with their 15 point deduction and haven’t won in their last three.
Queen of the South have goal contributions coming from all over the pitch and I think Cove will really struggle to keep them out.
Inverness vs East Fife - East Fife or Draw
East Fife have lost their last six league games and their last seven in total. The law of averages dictates that this needs to end at some point, right? There’s surely only so many rollickings from Dick Campbell the players can take before they turn it around.
Inverness are on one of their worst runs of the season having only won two in their last five, including a defeat against Montrose and a 0-0 draw against struggling Cove.
Before the massive run of losses, it looked like East Fife would be challenging for the promotion play-off places again so no one would have seen this coming, particularly not their incredibly experienced manager who is normally excellent at getting teams promoted!
As I’ve mentioned, the law of averages suggest that this run cannot continue, having not scored in the previous three, they’ve scored three in their last two. I believe that Dick Campbell can turn it around and hopefully that starts this weekend!
Stranraer vs Annan - Stranraer to win
Stranraer are unbeaten in the league since 15th November when they were beaten 3-1 by East Kilbride. Since then they’ve had some impressive results like hammering league leaders Spartans 4-0 and also beat East Kilbride 2-0 a couple of weeks ago, with both results being away from home.
Last week they also managed an impressive 1-1 draw away to Stirling Albion, who sit just behind them in the league.
Stranraer have the third best defence in the league and have one of the leagues most in-form players in Deryn Lang. Chris Aitken has been doing an excellent job at the Eco Gen Stadium at Stair Park and a win this weekend will help to keep the pressure on Clyde.
Clyde are currently three points clear but have a game in hand so Stranraer have to get back to winning ways this weekend to avoid them pulling clear.
Annan haven’t won in their last three and would be second bottom if it wasn’t for Dumbarton and Edinburgh City’s point deductions. They’re struggling and even after beating East Kilbride 3-1 in December, they’ve drawn their three games since and haven’t been able to build on it.
Stranraer have actually performed better away from home but now is the time to turn their home ground into a fortress and I think that starts this weekend.
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