Scottish Football Tips: Kai Watson's Best Bets, January 10
Plenty of drama in Scotland over the past week or so, and you get the feeling that there's more on the horizon!
Kai Watson, our Free Bets Scottish football expert, is back looking at five games on Saturday for punters.
Scottish Football Tips
Here are Kai's five best football betting tips for the weekend, complete with the best prices available at the top UK betting sites.
Hibernian vs Motherwell - BTTS
This one is shaping up to be a cracker in the capital as it’s fourth against fifth with both teams in good form. Hibs have won their last three matches which started with an impressive derby win against Hearts just after Christmas.
They followed it up with a 2-0 win against Aberdeen at Easter Road before beating Kilmarnock 3-1 at Rugby Park last week. Only Rangers have won more games in a row than Hibs and Dundee have won the same with three. Hibs have scored nine in their last five with their goals coming from all over the team. Youan scored a double last weekend but the likes of Bowie, Klidje and McGrath have also been popping up with goals.
Both sides last defeats were against Rangers but since then Motherwell have won their following two fixtures. The first was a dominant display against Motherwell at Fir Park in which Jens Berthel Askou tactically outclassed then Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy. Then they were impressive again against St. Mirren, who hammered them in the League Cup Semi-Final, and came away with their second 2-0 victory in a row.
The Well have only conceded one goal in their last five and that was in the 1-0 defeat against Rangers and they have the best defensive record in the league, only conceding 16 goals in 21 matches and keeping an incredibly impressive 11 clean sheets.
Hibs are the second top scorers behind Hearts with 36 in 21 matches and, as previously mentioned, Motherwell have the best defence in the league. Something needs to give in this one and I think it will be an end to end affair.
If Hibs can win this, they will overtake Motherwell and go one point clear but if Motherwell win they’ll open up a five point gap.
Livingston vs Kilmarnock - Livingston to Win
Livingston haven’t won a game since August 9th and that isn’t a streak that can continue much longer if they don’t want to finish bottom of the table. Despite their massive streak without a win there’s only a four point gap between them and their opponents on Saturday.
Killie have recently appointed Neil McCann as their new manager and this will be his first match in charge. They haven’t won since October 4th and are in just as much danger as Livingston in terms of facing the drop.
They were unlucky against Hearts and with a clinical striker could have actually come away with a point. The reason I fancy a Livingston victory is because they may have solved the issue of not scoring enough goals. This week they signed Estonian international striker Alex Matthias Tamm who scored 29 goals in the Estonian Premier League last season. He also scored 6 in 12 for Olimpija Ljubljana after joining last January but barely had any game time this season. I genuinely think he could be the difference between them finishing bottom and not.
So for last week's performance and that signing, I fancy Livingston to pick up their first three points since August.
Celtic vs Dundee United - BTTS
Celtic have lost their last two games, the 2-0 humbling at Fir Park against Motherwell then the 3-1 loss to Rangers last weekend was the end of Wilfried Nancy’s incredibly short rain as manager. Martin O’Neill is back now, until the end of the season, and should shore things up the way he did the last time.
That being said, I still think it’s a Celtic team that is short on confidence and have only won two of their last eight matches. The last time the two sides met at Tannadice Dundee United came back from 1-0 to win 2-1.
As much as I think O’Neill will go back to a back four and will set his team up to be more solid defensively, they have still conceded twelve goals in their last five matches which isn’t something that will just change straight away. Dundee United had previously been unbeaten in their five but suffered an incredibly disappointing derby defeat at home last weekend to halt that run.
Both teams will want to bounce back and I think Dundee United’s attacking threat, particularly Fatah and Sapsford. Celtic will immediately improve in this game, in my opinion, but I still think they’ll concede in this one.
Raith vs Arbroath - Arbroath to Win
Arbroath had been on a great run before drawing with Airdrie then narrowly losing 1-0 to league leaders St. Johnstone last weekend. They have continued to be the surprise package throughout the season and sit in third, five points clear of Ayr, although Scott Brown’s side have a game in hand.
Raith surprised everyone when they hammered Ross County 6-0 at Stark’s Park but haven’t won since then. They did manage an impressive 0-0 draw with Partick after that resounding victory but followed that up with a defeat against Dunfermline and a draw against Airdrie. Results haven’t really improved under Dougie Imrie so far and I don’t see this game being the turning point.
I’m genuinely shocked that this is the odds for Arbroath to win this one.
Stenhousemuir vs East Fife - Stenhousemuir to Win
Stenny went to the top of the league last weekend after Inverness’ game was called off. It was a massive game against Queen of the South, whom they were level on points with before the game. They came away 2-0 victors and it not only allowed them to pull away from Queen of the South but let them go top of the table.
East Fife have lost their last two, firstly against Peterhead but then had a really disappointing defeat to bottom of the table Kelty Hearts a couple of weeks ago. They’ve also had an extra week to dwell on that loss so all the momentum is with Stenhousemuir.
I can’t see anything other than a home win in this one.
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