SPL Betting Preview: St Mirren keen to keep the score down

Scottish Football / John Girvan / 06 March 2009 / Leave a Comment

Sky Sports 1 have Saturday lunch-time coverage of Celtic's visit to St Mirren in the last eight of The Homecoming Scottish Cup. But does John Girvan think the Bhoys can transfer their league form to the cup? Best Bet: Back 'No' in the Celtic Clean Sheet market at [1.82].

Gordon Strachan's men look back in form and are firm favourites to progress at the first time of asking against the Buddies at just [1.43]. It's understandable after the 7-0 thrashing when the sides met at Celtic Park last week with the visitors following that up with a good mid-week win at Killie.

St Mirren on the other hand, as all sides do, are finding it takes time to adapt to a new home . They remain unbeaten in the four games they have played since the flitting from Love Street but their only win came through a 1-0 victory over Motherwell in the last round of this competition. Last week was an embarrassment and the priority for Gus MacPherson will be to ensure Celtic don't get it quite so easily this weekend.

Despite last week it has the makings of decent cup tie, I see a few goals and Over 2.5 is available at [1.74]. The hosts have managed a goal in all of their Greenhill Road ties so far and with it being a one-off cup tie I like the look of [1.81] on "No" in the Celtic Clean Sheet market.

There's a sell-out at East End Park where Aberdeen are looking to make the last four for the second year in a row. The seventh and last time the sides were drawn together was a home tie for Dunfermline in the 1989 third round. The match was the second of two Scottish Cup stalemates between them and forced a replay in which Charlie Nicholas inspired The Dons to a 3-1 win.

Aberdeen have only lost two of their seven Scottish Cup ties with Dunfermline and are strong favourites to progress this time also. Jimmy Calderwood's men are competing at the business end of the SPL but are stuttering slightly with four draws and two defeats in their last six. The same can be said of the Irn-Bru 1st Division hosts who, despite one win and one draw from their last six, remain in fourth place with an outside chance of promotion.

Both have plenty to play for and passage to the last four could be a springboard for either side's seasons. Aberdeen will have a good backing, their fans will make the short journey on mass and although you could argue they aren't quite on top form I think their superior quality will shine through on Saturday. Back Aberdeen in the Match Odds at [1.94].

SPL basement boys Falkirk travel to Inverness on Saturday and, despite the occasion, it will be difficult for both sides to be fully focused. Yes, there is a place in the semi-finals and a trip to Hampden at stake but SPL survival is the priority for these two and, significantly, they switched places in the table this week.

The momentum is firmly with the hosts here but any wager will strictly depend on team selections. Physiological points are there to be scored in the relegation battle and if the Inverness line-up is similar to the side that beat Rangers in mid-week then I am prepared to back them at in the Match Odds at a healthy [2.34].

Rangers welcome Hamilton to Ibrox on Sunday in the remaining Quarter Final. BBC Scotland are screening a game where the hosts will be looking to bounce back from their mid-week home defeat to Inverness. The Gers will also be seeking to avoid another embarrassment like 21 years ago when Adrain Sprott wrote himself into football history with a goal that dumped Rangers out of the Scottish Cup.

On 31st January 1987, Adrian and his fellow part-time Accies team-mates were bottom of the Premier League with just one win to their name. Rangers were at the beginning of a decade long stranglehold on the domestic game and boasted a line up that included England skipper Terry Butcher, Chris Woods, Graham Roberts, Davie Cooper, Ian Durrant and Ally McCoist.

At kick-off, Chris Woods had played for 1126 minutes without conceding a goal and Hamilton were considered no hopers. It was Hamilton however and Sprott, who earned £50 a week and £25 for every point won (in the days when it was two points for a win), who brought an abrupt end to Woods' record with a 70th minute left foot strike. Given the circumstances it's no surprise to see a repeat of that 0-1 score line coming in at [40].

Rangers are [1.25] in the Match Odds, just marginally bigger than the price on a home win on Wednesday night but the home side were poor and lacked creativity. With League Cup Final places at stake we should see a reaction and I firmly envisage an outcome more in line with the home banker that was expected in mid-week. This makes Rangers Half-Time/Full-Time and Rangers -1.5 & 2.0 goals appeal at [1.75] and [1.98] respectively.