Scottish Football Tips: Kai Watson's Best Bets, March 21
It's another busy week of Scottish football action as we head towards the business end of the season.
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, featuring the best odds from UK betting sites to help you get maximum value on your bets.
Kilmarnock vs Livingston - Kilmarnock to win
Killie have won three out of their last seven which may not sound great, before that though, they had only won twice in 23 matches. Stuart Kettlewell’s record this season was two wins, six draws and nine losses in seventeen (2W/6D/9L). Neil McCann’s record is three wins, two draws and four losses (3W/2D/4L) in nine since he took over from interim Kris Doolan who drew one and lost three (1D/3L).
Not only has their form turned around massively, so have their performances, after hammering Aberdeen 3-0 they went to Ibrox and were hammered 5-1 when Dom Thompson picked up an early red card and gave away a penalty. Despite that, they battled hard, defended well and still looked dangerous on the counter due to Tyreece John-Jules' aggressiveness and athleticism.
The game after, the English striker scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 win against St. Mirren then had a goal and an assist in a first half they went in 2-0 up against Celtic. Sadly, they lost that game and also lost John-Jules until the end of the season (although he did sign a contract extension post-injury).
Killie were excellent last Saturday evening against Hearts and it’s hard to argue that they didn’t deserve their victory. They played like a team that should be much higher up the table and it was a particularly impressive bounce back performance having been beaten 5-1 by Falkirk the previous matchday.
Although they aren’t mathematically down, I think Livingston are doomed, I mean they haven’t won since August and have one win all season, one win in 30! They have drawn their last four though, including impressive results against Hibs and Rangers but I can’t see anything other than a comfortable Killie win.
Motherwell vs Hibernian - Motherwell to win & over 1.5 goals
This is a massive game for Motherwell, losing the previous two probably puts them out of the title race but a win on Saturday can take them much closer to securing fourth. Jens Berthel Askou’s side hadn’t lost back to back games since October so will be looking to immediately bounce back after two away defeats.
Motherwell won the last fixture at Fir Park 2–0 in November but the reverse fixture finished 1-1 at Easter Road in January. Hibs have drawn their last two matches after having beaten Celtic 2-1 at Celtic Park.
They mounted an excellent comeback against Dundee to go from 2-1 down in the 81st minute to 3-2 up on the 89th, however a brilliant Cameron Congreve strike in the 95th minute secured Steven Pressley’s side a draw.
Then last week they couldn’t score against bottom of the league Livingston, they could have been just two points behind Motherwell going into this win if they had won those games! Motherwell have the joint-second best home record in the league and also have the league's top scorer and top assister (Maswanhise and Slattery).
With Motherwell’s defensive record and playing in front of their own fans, I don’t only think they will win, I think they’ll win comfortably.
Hearts vs Dundee - Both teams to score
Hearts and Derek McInnes would have been bitterly disappointed with their display last weekend but they still sit two points clear of Celtic and three points clear of Rangers at the top of the table. Many will claim that will be the point the bubble burst but they’ll be desperate to prove their doubters wrong.
After a run of four games without a win, Dundee are now unbeaten in their last five and have scored late in all of those games
Ethan Hamilton vs Aberdeen - 84th minute
Cameron Congereve vs Hibs - 95th minute
Finlay Robertson vs Motherwell - 84th minute
Ashley Hay and OG vs Dundee United - 94th and 97th minute
I fancy Hearts to win this at Tynecastle but it’s really hard to bet against Dundee with the fight they're putting up and now they sit in 8th just two points behind their Tayside rivals in 7th.
Hearts play before Rangers and Celtic this weekend so have the chance to go five and six points clear respectively and that would put massive pressure on both sides. Going by the Killie game, it will be open and I don’t fancy a Hearts clean sheet, especially with the threats Dundee have on the wings.
Arbroath vs Queen’s Park - Both teams to score
Arbroath have drawn their last four, with three of them being 0-0s but the other was a thrilling 4-2 win against Dunfermline.
Queen’s Park have won two out of the last three and have climbed up to sixth and are now level with Ayr after looking doomed a few weeks ago. Sean Crighton has done brilliantly to turn this team around, especially after they were destroyed 8-0 at Ibrox, that could have easily dented their confidence and became the beginning of a downward spiral.
However, since that game QP have won thirteen points from seven games and shot straight up the table. After Arbroath’s run of draws Dunfermline are now only five points behind with a game in hand.
This will either be a goalfest, or a 0-0 but I don’t see the latter happening, this is a massive game in which both sides will be desperate for victory.
Alloa vs Inverness - Over 2.5 goals
In Alloa’s last five matches, there have been 21 goals, yes, 21! Inverness’ recent matches have only had 14 but both teams love a goal glut. Alloa haven’t won their last two but Inverness are unbeaten since the end of December.
It’s getting to the point of the season where every point counts that little bit more and Stenny are keeping the pressure on Inverness so they need to keep winning! Alloa will struggle to catch up to Stenny but their aim should definitely be to secure that third spot as comfortably as possible.
This could be a cracker and hopefully there’s as many goals as there was in Alloa’s last time out!
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.
