Scottish Football / John Girvan / 13 March 2009 /

It might be League Cup Final weekend but try telling that to anyone in the capital where the immediate attention will be on Saturday's televised Edinburgh Derby, writes John Girvan. Best Bet: Hibernian v Hearts - Under 2.5 goals @ [1.69].

Hibernian are in a precarious position and face a real dog-fight with Motherwell for a place in the top six. Their visitors on Saturday, Hearts, on the other hand, are riding high in third and look certs to qualify for Europe.

Csaba Laszlo's men have shot clear in the race without the Old Firm and much of this is down to crucial recent victories at home to Aberdeen and at Dundee United. They have backed it up with decent form elsewhere and have only lost one of their last seven league ties. The Jambos are unbeaten against their local rivals this season and will travel to Easter Road in confidence after the 2-0 Scottish Cup victory here in January.

The news from the Hibs camp is that Ian Murray could return on Saturday after two months out with a groin injury. The versatile 27-year-old has been a big loss for Mixu Paatelainen and it's perhaps no coincidence they have struggled somewhat in his absence. The win at Hamilton last week, their first in six, could be pivotal for all at the club, especially the manager, who has been highly critical of his squad, but maybe it's having a positive effect.

The Match Odds are really difficult to call and the Hibs [2.76] display will have a massive bearing on the future of an under-pressure Mixu Paatelainen. Was last week a one-off? Are his players behind him and willing to fight? I'm not convinced they are but the hosts are definitely in more need of the points than Hearts [2.86] who I would imagine will be happy to settle for a third successive league draw priced at [3.3].

In terms of goals all three of their meetings this season have landed in the 'Unders' category and with Hibs showing a series of low scoring home ties I am happy to back Under 2.5 goals at [1.69].

Celtic haven't beat Rangers in a final since Joe Miller capitalised on a poor Gary Stevens pass back to knock the ball past Chris Woods for the only goal of the 1989 Scottish Cup Final. It prevented Rangers completing a domestic treble but in the three Hampden Finals since The Gers can boast a hat-trick of victories having overcome their rivals in the Scottish Cup Finals of 1999 and 2002 and also the League Cup Final in 2003.

It has been said that Sunday's outcome will have a bearing on the championship run-in but I'm not so sure about that; there have been so many twists and turns in the league this season and
it seems that, despite the lack of quality, both sides have a certain degree of resilience about them.

It's certainly what Gordon Strachan will be counting on after last week's Scottish Cup exit at St Mirren. His side looked back on track after a shaky spell with wins over St Mirren and at Kilmarnock but they were poor at New St Mirren Park and now face the prospect of losing out on a second domestic cup competition in eight days.

The key player for Celtic is undoubtedly Scott McDonald. Samaras and Hesselink just can't touch him at the moment in terms of what he is producing for the team but that can change in dramatic fashion this Sunday. The Dutchman is most likely to partner the Australian in a 4-4-2 and despite not scoring since September he is still a presence and was unlucky with a point blank header in the dying moments of last week's defeat.

Remarkably this is Rangers manager Walter Smith's first ever Old Firm Cup Final. It's a new experience for the gaffer despite having been in charge from April 1991 until May 1998 and once again since January 2007. He's not new to making tough decisions though and he showed this on Tuesday after sending Kris Boyd home from training for his attitude in the wake of being dropped to the bench for the 5-1 win over Hamilton.

The striker automatically assumed he was out of this match as well and his displeasure reached an intolerable level. This could boost the chances of fit again Nacho Novo making an appearance and adding to his six Old Firm strikes. It's more likely he'll find himself on the bench however and with Lee McCulloch returning last week it would be no surprise to see him deployed in a 4-1-4-1 with perhaps Kyle Lafferty getting the nod up front.

Needless to say there is not much between the sides and Celtic are slight favourites at [2.66] in the Match Odds with Rangers out at [2.84] and the draw trading at [3.35]. Sunday might be a day for taking out some insurance however and if you fancy either side then it might be worth backing them in the Asian Handicap with Celtic -0 at [1.87] and Rangers -0 available at [2.04]. Here all stakes are refunded in the event of a draw.

The two previous meetings have been low on both entertainment and goals. An early strike could change all that and I feel it's worth taking on Over 2.5 goals at [2.42].

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