Scottish Premier League - 13th/14th August

[Beanie]

Saturday 13 Aug
13 Aug 15:00 Celtic v Falkirk 1/8 11/2 12/1
13 Aug 15:00 Dunfermline v Inverness 5/4 9/4 7/4
13 Aug 15:00 Kilmarnock v Motherwell 6/5 9/4 15/8

Sunday 14th Aug
14 Aug 15:00 Dundee Utd v Hearts 7/4 9/4 5/4
14 Aug 15:00 Aberdeen v Rangers 11/2 11/4 4/11
odds from stanjames

VBOOKIE for saturday

[fasteddy]

Hearts have to be followed at the moment..regardless of who they're playing.
The speed with which the squad has found a rhythm is impressive. Add into this the fact that in this league 'confidence' just doesn't work in your favour on a personal level..it also puts your opponents on the back foot. My opinion , of course, but I really believe that Scottish sides are more vulnerable to the ' shit, they're playing well..tough game this' mentality than other leagues.

Burley has been clear about being happy to switch players and tactics , so Dundee Utd will be hard pushed to second guess his approach...nice edge to have.

I'd be interested in some Asian handicaps on the Dons...they have a squad to make life tough for any club, especially on home soil , so Rangers won't be taking this fixture as anything other than HARD.

Could be value kicking around here....worth a another look later on.

[Beanie]

Hibs are worth a look too. They haven't turned into a bad team overnight, and up until conceding a stupid penalty they were still in touch vs a very good Hearts team. They looked good with only 10 men v Dunfermline too.

Livingston are poor right now, and unless we sign someone this week I've got no idea who Lambert thinks will get goals for us.

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

I would be very weary of Hibs actually.

After losing Murray at the back it was a big loss and they never fully replaced him. Instead they deployed Caldwell to take over his role for this season but now he has been ruled out for 8 weeks leaving Hibs very short of cover at the back.

They have brought up a short term deal for a player to act as cover. Can't be a good thing for the Hibs backline as you can't imagine the organisational, positioning etc will all be there and should leave Hibs some holes at the back for Livi to take advantage of.

[Beanie]

The problem is Kiko that we don't have anyone that can take advantage. I'll be very surprised if anyone at the club just now finishes the season with more than 6 or 7 goals.

McPake/Snodgrass are too young, and too poor off the ball(and on it .) Pereira and Adams aren't goalscorers, Vincze is a holding player, and Tesevic is simply not good enough.

If Hibs' back line is struggling, then a game v the Livi frontline is exactly what they need.

I'll be looking for more than 1.61 though.

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Damn - you guys really need to put in a bid for me. I'd solve all your goalscoring problems

Yeah probably best avoiding the outright market for me i think. Possibly an unders bet? Both sides seem to be struggling to score and its probably the safest option.

Are Livi really that bad Beanie?? You reckon their time could be up and they could end up going down?

[Beanie]

Thought you were a world-class keeper these days?

The defence and keeper seems ok at Livi(restricted Falkirk to only around 3 chances or so) but there doesn't appear to be anything in the attacking third.

I doubt our time will be up, but I think we'll struggle till Christmas. Then cue Flynn digging into his pockets and funding another glut of signings just like last season. He'll claim that we'll live within our means from now on, but I doubt that that's true.

[Beanie]

I take it all back - Killie look as garbage as I suspected. Two breaks, two goals, and rode their luck for the rest of the 90.

[crowie]

For those of you with Betandwin accounts, ICT are 3.65 at B&W. Very big price considering Bet365/Hills go 2.80.

ICT only lost 1 of last 10 aways last season and won at Falkirk first time out this season. Thats a very good record away from home in the SPL for a non OF team. They were also unlucky not to get anything from Rangers visit last weekend and all in all are a pretty solid outfit who can more than hold their own in this league.

Dunfermline held on gamely with 11 men against 10 man Hibs on first weekend to get a 1-1, their keeper saving them on more than one occasion. A late late goal saw them lose 1-0 at Motherwell at the weekend having played a large part of that game with 10 men. I still don't rate them this season and I do think they will struggle.

3.65 is a big price IMO but I would make it a "draw no lose" bet by covering your stakes with a small punt on the draw. I do expect ICT to get something out of this game.

[Beanie]

I've not got an account at B+W crowie but thats a great spot. I can't believe any bookie would go with such high odds on ICT the way they keep surprising everyone(to the extent that its no surprise anymore, if that makes sense : .) Especailly v Dunfermline, who like Livi are actually looking quite well organised but have next to no goal threat. Burchill is nowhere near the player he was.

http://sport.scotsman.com/football.cfm?id=1751362005





Thats the signing we need...someone with a spark, and someone to get the supporters' interest sparked.

[A.M.P]

Been reading today about Dundee United's injuries ahead of their European game.

I found out they're weekend opponents are Hearts who have just announced a signing of some Greek international.

You guys know this league inside out but the 2.3 at Bet365 seemed too good to miss so I've had a couple of points.

AMP

[Beanie]

You're dead right IMO AMP. In fact after the Stranraer experience I'll be tempted to place any bets on that game tonight incase prices drop.

Tannadice is a very difficult place to go, but Aberdeen did ok there and prob deserved more than their 1-1 draw, and I'd rate Hearts higher than Aberdeen at the mo(but who wouldn't?)

Lets assume(and this is a big assumption based on 2 games) that Hearts are playing almost as well as the Old Firm. Even if they aren't quite at that level, with the Old Firm we would be seeing maybe 1.30 away at Tannadice. And with Hearts we get 2.30?

And thats not even beginning to think about the United problems or their focus on the European game.

And its good to see that its with Bet365, who have been absolutely shocking with their Scottish prices so far, and will probably take a big beating tonight for starting Stranraer so high.

[kompressaur]

I could go with Hearts. Killie have a bad record at home to Motherwell. I might go over 2.5 on that

[Bigkegman]

Hearts where pretty impressive on Sunday but beanie has got a point - hibs where still in it up till the soft penalty. Hearts passed the ball about really good - must be worth a shout althoug Dundee utd did pick up towards the end of last season didn't they ?

Still never saw the highlights but by all accounts Livie should have got someting on saturday from rangers !

Listened to the Hibs v Dunf game on the radio firtnight ago and Hibs where down to ten men and should have won so anybody against Dunf look like value.

[Beanie]

Think you mean ICT rather than Livi there BKM...but yeah, they really caused Rangers problems and if Brewster had been a little more lethal they could have taken a good point. Caley drew both away at East End last season, and won both at home, so I'd say over 3 represents a beauty.

Have to say I wasn't impressed with Killie at Aberdeen at all. Smash and Grab just about covers it, although Aberdeen got a bit greedy and pushed the back line all the way up to halfway, and so were undone by one pass for the nippy wee striker to fly on to.

They have beaten Motherwell at home on the last 4 occasions though(you'll get it right on Killie's record one of these days Komp )