DAVE KING this week claimed Rangers were “within tangible reach of becoming dominant force” in Scotland. So he won’t be keen to see eight in a row achieved by fierce rivals Celtic on the first weekend of the Scottish Premiership split.
The Ibrox owner maybe hasn’t looked at a table in a while so here’s a reminder.
Gers trail by 11 points so if they fail to win at Hearts today their Old Firm foes can seal the deal by winning at Hibs tomorrow.
Now some good news for King. Steven Gerrard’s side have ruled the Jambos this season with three wins out of three – including a 3-0 success at home just three weeks ago.
The atmosphere at Tynecastle will be positive after last week’s Scottish Cup semi-final success and Hearts’ focus will be on that although they’ll want to finish above Hibs.
I fancy Rangers, even without top scorer Alfredo Morelos. But a best 4-6 with the likes of William Hill and Ladbrokes is ridiculously short.
All three meetings have gone over 2.5 goals, so that’s a better bet at 23-25 with Marathonbet. Both have scored in four of five at Tynie and another pays 10-11 at Boylesports.
Without Morelos, there will be another start for Jermain Defoe but for a first goal try Scott Arfield who netted a hat-trick against Motherwell last time out. He is 11-1 at McBookie to net first while Jambos hero Uche Ikpeazu is 11-2.
Hibs’ only defeat under Paul Heckingbottom was 2-0 at home to Celtic in the Scottish Cup.
Ex-Easter Road boss Neil Lennon wants to wrap up the title ASAP then rest players and the treble chasers are also skinny at 1-2 with McBookie.
Celtic have beaten Hibs four times this season – three by 2-0 and another returns 6-1 at BetVictor.
Elsewhere today the battle to beat the drop continues and Dundee, with seven defeats in a row, face another at St Johnstone who are attractive at 10-11 with Betfred.
Livingston have double St Mirren’s points so evens on them at bet365 looks value against a side battling to stay above Dundee.
Hamilton v Motherwell and Kilmarnock v Aberdeen are tough to call and could be draws.
In the Championship it’s all about the battle to beat the drop with four points separating the bottom five teams and four of them meet today.
Alloa have climbed to sixth after four wins in a row and backing them not to lose at evens with McBookie.
The other huge game is Falkirk v Morton and I’m on the Bairns at 21-20 with Ladbrokes to beat a side without a win in seven.
QoS have been dragged into the dogfight after taking two points from 12 and scoring just two goals since top scorer Stephen Dobbie was ruled out for the season.
Don’t expect a Palmerston blockbuster against Dunfermline, with the last three meetings there finishing 0-0 and all three meetings this season going under 1.5 goals.
No scorer pays 7-1 at bet365 while under 1.5 goals is 2-1 with the same firm.
In League One there’s a crazy scenario that could see Dumbarton make the promotion play-offs or be relegated.
The latter is more likely but to do so they must beat East Fife for a fourth time this season. Jum Duffy’s men tempt at 5-4 with bet365.
Montrose can go a long way to sealing the final play-offs spot by beating close rivals Airdrie at 13-10 with BetVictor.
Clyde’s hopes of catching Peterhead at the top of League Two are all but over after losing their appeal against a four-point deduction. They should beat Berwick by at least two but Peterhead should win at Elgin where they have triumphed seven times in a row.
Edinburgh have been faltering heading to the play-offs with one win in five while Albion Rovers are fighting hard to avoid the drop. Rovers will have some backers at 5-1 with bet365 but best bet is both to score at 5-6.
Recommended Bets
- Hearts v Rangers over 2.5 goals
- St Johnstone
- Alloa not to lose
- Falkirk
- QoS v Dunfermline under 1.5 goals
- Dumbarton
- Clyde -1
- Albion Rovers v Edinburgh btts
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