Bring home the bacon
I’m taking results to go in St Mirrens favour again this week, with a victory and defeat for Dundee. Add Annan at home for a Tasty Treble.
In lower leagues, a few others catch the eye. Queens Park are an unlikely one, but are worth a small risk at 7/1.
2 points – St Mirren @ 2/1
2 points – Motherwell @ 17/20
2 points – Annan @ 4/6
1 point – Dumbarton @ 4/5
1 point – Stenhousemuir @ 5/4
1 point – Queens Park @ 7/1
It’s all over bar the relegation dogfights it seems, and picks are strongly weighted towards those with everything to play for.
In the Championship, Falkirk and Partick can turn up the heat on the bottom 5 by each taking 3 points. In league 1, Dumbarton are better than their perilous position and will get the win they need to all but ensure they can relax for the rest of the sunny Easter weekend. That’s you Tasty Treble!
Starting on the same vein in the Premiership, St Mirren have a tough task of winning at a ground that very few have been able to, however with everything to play for and a vocal following that will hugely outnumber the home fans, 18/5 is good value. I’m going the other way with Dundee though – roughly the same pricing, but St Johnstone are stronger, Dundee weaker, and they haven’t laid a glove on their opponents in their 3 previous meetings this season.
Also in League 1, Montrose and Stenhousemuir are two form teams with huge incentives to win, and in League 2 Albion Rovers are worth taking at 9/2 against an indifferent Edinburgh City.
Lastly, Inverness and Cowdenbeath are value in two largely meaningless fixtures:
2 points – Falkirk @ 6/5
2 points – Partick @ 17/20
2 points – Dumbarton @ 5/4
2 points – St Mirren @ 18/5
1 point – St Johnstone @ 19/20
1 point – Inverness @ 9/4
1 point – Montrose @ 11/8
1 point – Stenhousemuir @ 29/20
1 point – Albion Rovers @ 9/2
1 point – Cowdenbeath @ 11/4
Except today. Again.
Perhaps I will never learn, but logic must always override mad Teuchters sporadic behaviour, otherwise we’re just signing up to madness are we not? In today’s big semi final, Hearts won’t find it easy as the Hillbillies from Inverness are arguably the form, (and maybe even the best), team in the Championship. But when all said and done, the budgets are miles apart, Hearts are a full division ahead of them, and they cantered to a 5-0 win last time out. Hearts win.
To complete our tasty treble we’ll go down to the other end of the spectrum with two strong fancies. Annan at home to Stirling, and Queens Park away to Berwick. Both Annan and Queens Park are well ahead of their counterparts and should comfortably take care of their duties. Berwick have showed numerous times that even staring down the abyss of the Scottish Football trap door cannot motivate them enough to become anything better than sh1t.
In the unpredictable Championship I’m taking Alloa, Falkirk as value bets, with Ross County also a decent price of evens to beat Partick at home and virtually clinch the title.
League 1- two of the better sides in last quarter, Dumbarton and Stenhousemnuir, represent value.
And lastly, in League 2s big fixture I’m going for Clyde to shade it and keep their promotion hopes alive.
In detail:
2 points – Hearts @ 3/4
2 points – Annan @ 4/5
2 points – Queens Park @ 4/6
1 point – Alloa @ 9/5
1 point – Falkirk @ 5/2
1 point – Ross County @ evens
1 point – Dumbarton @ 9/5
1 point – Stenhousemuir @ 5/2
1 point – Clyde @ 7/4
Releasing the picks early tonight to catch the Dundee Utd game.. the top of the table clash can go either way so I think Utd are represent valoue at 23/10.
The rest:
1 point – St Mirren @ 11/5
1 point – Motherwell @ 6/1
1 point – Dundee Utd @ 23/10
2 points – Arbroath @ 4/5
2 points – Dumbarton @ 10/11
1 point – Queens Park @ evens
Well this may seem like bacon-tinted spectacles, but I’m seeing results going in St Mirren favour at the bottom of the Premiership.
The Perth Saints and Livingston should each have enough to take care of Dundee and Hamilton respectively, so long as complacency has not set in. I think St Johnstone will be determined to turn things around – Tommy Wright looks increasingly peeved off with every interview, and his players are under pressure to perform. Dundee will need to vastly improve. Livingston are living the dream and should be focused on getting as high a place as possible in the league.
To round it off, I’m taking a small risk on St Mirren to complete the unlikeliest of wins against Champions in waiting Celtic. Despite our manager already saying he has one eye on the next game against Hamilton, I think Celtics big win against Rangers at the weekend might just take their eye of the ball. Remember this was 0-0 last time, and coupled with solid recent St Mirren performances this not be the formality it seems. 14/1 is worth a small punt.
Hogwash? In the words of David Icke… wait and see….
1 point – St Johnstone @ 9/10
1 point – Livingston @ 9/10
0.5 points – St Mirren @ 14/1