SPL 3rd/4th December

[fasteddy]

I feel very confident about this week's fixtures...always a bad sign

Looks like an 'away day special' to me!

Hibs avg 1.95
playing well, great 'away' record, confidence on a high after their recent win over an admittedly 'shadow of itself' rangers side, good H2H with Utd in this fixture as well.
Had a blip against the Pars in the Cup, but apart fropm that they have been solid, if not spectacular in their victories.
I'm a fan of Sproule, and this may be a good game for him to get back on the scoresheet, as the last game he scored in was against Utd back in Sept.

O'Connor and Riordan will be hard to stop scoring for anyone, so I expect one or both to do so again here.
Missing Stewart in midfield deprives Mowbray with some important finesse and vision , but they managed ok last week without him, so there you go.
They way they are moving the ball about these days is causing their opponents headaches, and Utd may have to revert to strong arm tactics to upset the 'flow' of the Easter Rd men. Big argy-bargy lads, see what you get.
Ref: Brian Winters: likes a wee flash of the cards to himself, so if it looks like it's all going a bit 'Olivia', then a get on the bookings- sharpish .


Livi (+1.5)
This bet is all based on whether Livi can get on the scoreboard or not. I think they can. Possibly need a penalty or OG, but they will find a route.
Before Rix took charge Hearts had just gone 4 games with clean sheets in all. They then played out two 1-1 draws, and looked to have lost a bit of their shape and movement.
In 11 of the last 17 meetings between these two clubs, Livi would've won with this handicap. I like that.

Hearts look a bit 'vulnerable' at the moment, and Livi can 'prey' on them...that will make a change for Rix , being on the recieving end!
Livi won 1-0 in the Cup, 10 day after losing 4-1 to the Jambos. There is enough to suggest that an outright is a slim possibility, and at 11.00-13.00 odds I wouldn't put anyone of them, but more likely a draw or odd goal win for Hearst is the bet, either of which makes us winners!


Falkirk (+1.25)
Rangers missing suspended captain Barry Ferguson , plus Brahim Hemdani is out for six weeks after suffering a hamstring tear, while Alex Rae is missing with a thigh strain. Big loss with Freguson and it m,ay show if Falkirk can keep their composure and play thru the centre in the assured way of the last few games. They've got a nice system going, and the players have been in confident form. Take out their poor results at home and you have a solid side on the road.: 3-1-1 last 5.
They have beaten by a margin of 2+ only 5 times in total and only 2 times 'away' (excluding Celtic), so I think that although the 'past' is against them , the 'present' isn't.
Rangers may come out and hammer Falkirk , but on all recent evidence I can't be abcking them to do so.
Falkirk @ 9.00 is also worth a small investment...for those that like ACTION!

[paulb]

Falkirk to beat rangers at 8/1 is my bet of the day (0-1) also,
Dundee Utd v Hibernian Home
Dunfermline v Kilmarnock Away
Hearts v Livingston Draw
Motherwell v Inverness Draw
Aberdeen v Celtic Away
Thats ma six for the day!!

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Argh - well that was annoying. After tipping United and lay of Rangers i guess i expected nothing else bar them to both come off again.

Once again isleep through all the afternoons betting and miss it all again

Some great work guys. Nice picks with the Livi and Falkirk bets Eddy

[Beanie]

You do that every week Kiko...unlucky man

Ok...time to wrap things up with regards to Celtic, and I'm surprised that the 1.50 has stuck around, but nevertheless I'll let the bet ride I think.

Aberdeen v Celtic

Aberdeen

3 decent results in a row now for Jimmy Calderwood's side after draws against Rangers and Hearts and a win over Falkirk, and that is the type of run they will need to build on if they are to get themselves firmly into the top six. Last week against Falkirk it took a battling performance to secure all three points, but having been pegged back to 2-1 the away side showed good resilience to see out the 90 minutes. That match continued to show that Aberdeen have goal threats all over the pitch, which is just as well given the lack of goals coming from Stevie Crawford and the injury to Steve Lovell for tomorrow's game.

Celtic

Last weekend the loss to Dunfermline highlighted a few problems which hadn't been apparent in Celtic so far this season. Injuries to Maloney and Nakamura meant a midfield devoid of creativity or direct running, and as a result John Hartson and Chris Sutton were given next to no service in front of goal. Tomorrow should see the return of both Nakamura and Maloney, and well as the added pace of Zurawski up front in place of Hartson, and that should signal a return to the high tempo football which Celtic have shown for most of this season. Celtic have won their last 5 away matches with a goal difference of 14:2, including tricky ties away at Easter Road and Rugby Park.

The Match

As Aberdeen have shown both in the past and so far this season, they have a great ability to raise their game for the big games, particularly at Pittodrie, and a draw with Hearts and 3:2 win over Rangers is enough evidence of that. However, with Celtic likely to be back to their attacking best tomorrow I doubt Aberdeen will get too much of the ball, or many clear attempts on Artur Boruc's goal, and like the away matches at Kilmarnock and Hibs I'll back Celtic to do a professional job in what will be a tough match. The price looks just about right...perhaps just a shade generous.

4pts Celtic @ 1.50 with Bet365
0.50pts Celtic 1-0 @ 8.00 with BetDirect

[milners]

Originally Posted by Kiko

Argh - well that was annoying. After tipping United and lay of Rangers i guess i expected nothing else bar them to both come off again.

Once again isleep through all the afternoons betting and miss it all again

Some great work guys. Nice picks with the Livi and Falkirk bets Eddy

Good picks Eddy and beanie. Unluck Kiko but good tipping going against Hibs.

[farnerud]

Thanks to everyone, you are great

[kompressaur]

Your no bad yourself farnerud

I only spoke briefly to the Killie fans coming back from the game as i was miserable at work tonight. I just sat at the other end of the bar and smoked cigs and read the papers. From what i heard them saying it was all Dunfermline and Killie were a bit lucky. I wasnt trying to piss on folks fires i just thought i'd mention it. I havent read the reports either.

Good going all round it would seem.

[kompressaur]

Falkirk to beat rangers at 8/1 is my bet of the day (0-1) also,
Dundee Utd v Hibernian Home
Dunfermline v Kilmarnock Away
Hearts v Livingston Draw
Motherwell v Inverness Draw
Aberdeen v Celtic Away
Thats ma six for the day!!

Paulb if you wish to post unsolicited tips then feel free to post them on the place your bets here thread. No harm done but just for future referance to folks. If you aint much of a talker just post your picks on the weekly bet thread.

[Beanie]

Slightly bumpy ride, but Celtic did the business in the end. Tight match as expected early on, but the Aberdeen goal really opened things up.

[milners]

Originally Posted by Beanie

Slightly bumpy ride, but Celtic did the business in the end. Tight match as expected early on, but the Aberdeen goal really opened things up.

Terrible performance from aberdeen, the manager was negative again with a 3-6-1 which really isn't the way to play against a poor celtic team. They aint great. Also think if Anderson didn't have a migrane then the outcome could have been a bit different.

[Beanie]

Hmmm...I'm not sure you give Celtic the credit they deserve Milners (IMO )...

As a team they have their flaws, and as last week showed behind their first choice 11 they can be very ordinary, but the football they are playing just now is a lot better than that of Hearts, Hibs and Rangers, and ultimately its that which they should be compared against.

They've scored 10 more goals than any other side in the division, and after a dodgy start have conceded just 6 goals in 14 games. Hearts are decent attacking, but don't have the same ability to blow sides away like Celtic did in a 10 minute spell today, and while Hibs are a side who do possess that ability, they don't have the defensive abilities to back it up.

Celtic would most probably struggle on a European stage right now, but at the moment as an all round package what they have is more than good enough to see off SPL sides week in week out.

[milners]

Originally Posted by Beanie

Hmmm...I'm not sure you give Celtic the credit they deserve Milners (IMO )...

As a team they have their flaws, and as last week showed behind their first choice 11 they can be very ordinary, but the football they are playing just now is a lot better than that of Hearts, Hibs and Rangers, and ultimately its that which they should be compared against.

They've scored 10 more goals than any other side in the division, and after a dodgy start have conceded just 6 goals in 14 games. Hearts are decent attacking, but don't have the same ability to blow sides away like Celtic did in a 10 minute spell today, and while Hibs are a side who do possess that ability, they don't have the defensive abilities to back it up.

Celtic would most probably struggle on a European stage right now, but at the moment as an all round package what they have is more than good enough to see off SPL sides week in week out.

I don't disagree with what you say there Beanie but its still a very poor celtic time compared to recent years when the old firm blow our clubs away. Celtic are still the best in our league but i take todays game they pass the ball really well but don't have a cutting edge upfront, Hartson was very lazy today but what disappoints me was all 3 Celtic goals looked like defensive mistakes. I'm just disappointed that our manager who we though has a go at teams doesn't. He played negative today against a team that i feel if you have a go could beat. You could say he would have played different if Anderson was playing but this aint true as we know one of the players and get info about the team we are playing, unfortunately i didn't know it till after i punted Aberdeen on the handicap!!! lol

Well done on your bet - your doing really well on bettingadvice, have the same or maybe better yield than me.

I'm kind of happy now i've made 60pts this season and my 1st/2nd/3rd division is just slighty down now on their from the start of the season.

[Beanie]

I'd agree with that that as a Celtic side compared to their teams of recent years, and compared to the general Champions League sides now(although somehow that includes Rangers ) they aren't all that they could be.

I think I'm up to 37% yield on BA at the moment, but still trailing your 44%

[Parahandy]

Was thinking too that Milners was being a bit hard on Celtic. It's no secret that I'm a Celtic fan but I like to think I can be completely objective about them. I was so objective I tipped Rangers to win the first Old Firm match of the season, which of course they did. Anyway, as I said earlier in the thread, I agree Celtic are not a great team and certainly would struggle in Europe, unless they were in the weakest Group I've ever seen in the CL, where we have Inter and 3 extremely poor others. Yesterday at half time I was thinking a 0-0 draw was on the cards as neither team really looked like scoring.

When Aberdeen went in front, as Beanie says the game certainly opened up and with it the Aberdeen defence who had been coping comfortably enough, bar one mistake from Zander which let Zurawski in only for Esson to make a very good stop and turn his effort away for a corner. Then two Celtic goals in a few minutes and it was virtually all over. Not a great showing from Celtic but enough to win comfortably in the end. Aberdeen competed well in the first half but had no goal threat, which is not surprising the way they lined up.

I said at the beginning of the season, the gap betweeen the Old Firm and the rest would narrow and it's gone way beyond that with those at Ibrox needing a long range telescope to see the top of the table. Hearts are wobbling while Hibs are so inconsistent and both these could lose players in the transfer window. Maybe Hearts will strengthen but if Skacel goes, their main goal threat will go with him.