Scottish Premiership Preview, Betting Tips and Odds Week 24

Rangers recent turnaround from back-to-back defeats at the end of 2017 as seen them regain second place in the Scottish Premiership, but how long can they hold on to it? The Dons find themselves in a sticky spot after finally putting an end to the speculation of manager Derek McInnes being the latest departure from Pittodrie to Ibrox.  Aberdeen host Kilmarnock this weekend with a chance to at least stay on the coat-tails of the Gers in what Jim Delahunt has described as potentially the game of the week. Get his thoughts on the rest of the action in the SPL in the exclusive Betsafe preview, and find out who Barry Ferguson and Simon Donnelly are backing in their acca’s right here. 

Aberdeen V Kilmarnock

Aberdeen have surrendered second spot in the table pretty meekly to Rangers over the past few weeks but I’ll take them to go second again for one night at least by beating Kilmarnock at Pittodrie.

The Dons probably played better against Rangers midweek than they’d done on their previous two starts against the Ibrox side, but it finished 2-0 to Gers and they’re now down to third on goal difference.

Derek McInnes has an excellent squad of players which has been added to significantly by the return of Niall McGinn and with home advantage this weekend, I think they’ll be (just) too strong for Killie.

Steve Clarke’s revolution at Rugby Park is well underway and the Ayrshire club is now firing on the cylinders it always should have done. The fans are flocking back and Killie knocked Ross County out of the Scottish Cup last weekend, albeit with a disputed penalty and a County “goal” which might have stood if VAR had been employed.

They’re a very good side indeed and have proved to be well worth supporting at home here on Betsafe but I fancy Aberdeen to bounce back with a win today.

The Dons are 9/14 on Betsafe and well worth supporting with Killie at 41/10 and the draw at 27/10. With the greatest of respect to Celtic and Hibs, this should be the game of the day and Aberdeen can resume winning ways after another “failure” against Rangers.

St Johnstone V Partick Thistle

St Johnstone’s return to action has been stalled by the weather but they can get back to business with a home win over Partick Thistle. Saints are 11/10 at Betsafe to get the win with the draw at 11/5 and the Jags priced up at 12/5.

Partick excelled themselves against Celtic on Tuesday but it’s always difficult to judge whether Celtic’s opponents are playing above themselves or whether the league leaders have taken their foot off the gas.

Thistle will win plenty of games before the end of the season, but this might not be one of them and I fancy the home win. Tommy Wright’s side will face a mini-backlog of fixtures if anything else falls to the weather but they’re sitting nicely on level points with Kilmarnock (26) and usually excel against the bigger sides in the Premiership.

It’s too early in the season to have this down as a must-win for the Jags and even though they’ll stay second bottom if they lose, another decent performance in defeat will keep hopes high that they can survive as the third Glasgow side in the top division.

Hearts V Motherwell

It’s been a terrific week for Hearts and I expect the good times for Craig Levein’s men to continue with a win over Motherwell at Tynecastle.

The Jambos won their Edinburgh derby Scottish Cup tie against Hibs on Sunday and they followed up midweek with a convincing 3-0 Premiership win at Hamilton.

Levein’s claims to have restored the “natural order” in Edinburgh by beating Hibs caused social media riots but the Hearts fans loved the blast at their biggest rivals and the follow up win midweek means they’re obvious favourites to win again on Saturday.

Motherwell secured their place in the next round of the Scottish Cup with a win over Hamilton at the weekend and the Steelmen were winning again at home to Ross County on Wednesday night.

I’d fancied them to do just that but this trip to Edinburgh is a totally different prospect and Hearts can get another victory while Hibs are well up against things at Celtic Park.

The gap between the two capital sides is currently 5 points but Hearts seem to be on a roll after the winter break and another win over Motherwell could see that gap down to just 2 points if Neil Lennon’s side fail to win at Celtic Park.

Hearts are 13/15 with Betsafe for this game against Motherwell and I think that’s a great price given their current form. The visitors can be backed at 3/1 with the draw at 23/10 but much as I admire Motherwell’s style of play this season, it’s always about 40% better at home that away.

Best Of The Rest

Celtic V Hibernian

I fully appreciate that not everyone was impressed with Celtic’s win at Partick Thistle on Tuesday but it was another job done at full-time and they’re 11 points clear of Rangers at the top of the table.

Both Barry Ferguson and Simon Donnelly agree that Hibs have given Celtic more problems than any other Scottish club this season but their chances of beating them on Saturday are rated at 44/5 by Betsafe despite their 2-2 draw in Glasgow earlier in the season.

Celtic are 3/11 with the draw at 22/5 and I strongly suspect they’ll get the job done and prove there is life after Moussa Dembele who looks certain to be playing in England by the end of this month.

Hamilton V Dundee

Hamilton face Dundee with both clubs having lost their first leage games back after the break on Wednesday and I’ll take Accies to win this one at Betsafe’s 4/3.

Dundee are 19/10 with the draw at 9/4 but much as they played well in a 1-0 home defeat to Hibs midweek, Accies will have home advantage this weekend and they’re capable of way better than they showed against Hearts on Wednesday.

Ross County V Rangers

I didn’t fancy County at Motherwell at all on Wednesday but I did say they had a better chance in Sunday’s game at home to Rangers and I stand by that. Betsafe go 49/10 about Owen Coyle’s side and that looks a tasty single for Sunday afternoon’s 2pm kick-off.

I agree with Barry Ferguson that Rangers are gradually becoming more reliable betting propositions this season but 7/15 might be a bit short away from home and County’s defensive strengths can keep them in this game long enough to get the goal or goals which could seal the win.

About Jim Delahunt

Jim Delahunt is a Scottish based TV and Radio sports presenter as well as being a newspaper columnist on football and horse-racing. He’s a former Champions League presenter for ITV in Scotland and is a former amateur jockey. From 1998-2006, he presented what was then the world’s longest running sports programme, Scotsport, on ITV in Scotland. He was later a presenter on Setanta Sports.