Hearts, promoted from the Scottish Championship last season, have already secured their place in round two thanks to three successive victories.
Robbie Neilson’s side have breezed through so far, failing to concede a goal in any of their three games.
St Mirren also have a perfect record though are not yet assured of a place in round two.
However, it would take a very unlikely sequence of events for them to be denied a shot in round two.
Hearts to Face Very Few Problems
Hearts are on a great run of form which has carried on from their success of last season.
They earned promotion back to the Scottish Premiership at the first time of asking and dominated the Scottish Championship.
The 2012 Scottish Cup winners will expect to fare well in the Premiership this season and the group stage of the League Cup could prove to be the perfect preparation.
They have won six of their last seven games and have failed to even concede a goal in their previous eight.
"We’ve got three wins from three games and we’re looking to and hoping to make that four come Sunday. I’m hoping there will be the competitive edge that we’ve had in the previous games. There are places to play for."
https://t.co/IE71n9yzLL pic.twitter.com/7bBIph2fXm
— Heart of Midlothian FC (@JamTarts) July 23, 2021
Inverness haven’t had the most ideal group stage so far and must get a result in order to give themselves a chance of progression.
They laboured to a disappointing draw against League Two side Stirling Albion and were beaten by League One outfit Cove Rangers so their vulnerabilities have been on display.
Hearts also have a sensational record against Caley Thistle, failing to lose in each of their last 12 in all competitions.
They can be backed at 10/23 to win the game and given how strong they are defensively, 31/20 to win to nil might be a good shout.
St Mirren Too Strong for Partick
The second of Sunday’s Scottish League Cup games see St Mirren host Partick Thistle at The Simple Digital Arena.
St Mirren know they have to put on a performance in order to rubber-stamp their round two berth.
They do have a record of taking scalps in this competition, however, defeating Rangers and Aberdeen on their way to the semi-finals last season.
Jim Goodwin’s men have an excellent home record in the League Cup, losing just one of their last ten inside 90 minutes.
Partick could cause some issues for St Mirren, given their goalscoring capabilities.
They have scored twice in each of their three games so far in the competition and will be rueing their 4-2 defeat against Dunfermline at Fir Park which could prove to be a pivotal moment.
However, St Mirren’s exceptionally strong home record might mean it is a stretch too far for the Scottish Championship outfit.
Partick need to attack and an open game would suit St Mirren to a tee so they should have too much to handle.
They can be backed at 5/8 win though, given the predicted open nature of the game, St Mirren to win and over 2.5 goals at 6/5 might prove to be good value.
*All odds correct at time of writing