Scottish Football: Saints go marching on Sunday, says Willie Duncan

SCOTTISH football bible Willie Duncan (@Willie_Duncan) is back with his best bet from north of the border this weekend.

St Johnstone v Rangers | Sunday 12:30

St Johnstone have enjoyed a good season; Tommy Wright’s team have cruised into the top-four of the Scottish Premiership this season and the Saints could bring down the curtain on their campaign in style against Rangers at McDiarmid Park on Sunday afternoon.

The team from Perth have won five of their last seven fixtures – with their only defeats coming against Aberdeen and Celtic respectively – while Wright’s charges have kept a clean sheet in each of those five victories.

St Johnstone, too, have kept things competitive on each of the three occasions that they have locked horns with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership this season.

There have been two 1-1 draws between the teams, while Rangers ran out as 3-2 winners in the most recent renewal – with the winning goal coming in stoppage time.

Rangers, too, required a stoppage time winner when they defeat Partick Thistle in dramatic fashion after the split and, although, Pedro Caixinha’s charges defeated Heart of Midlothian last weekend, it is worth noting that Ian Cathro’s team played for more than an hour with just 10 men.

A 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Aberdeen on Wednesday night suggests that Rangers are limping towards the finishing line and, for a team not exactly at the peak of their powers, McDiarmid Park is a place that is full of potential pitfalls.

The betting angle

Saints will be determined to end their season in style and they will be in celebratory mood, for a top four finish is enough to guarantee that Wright’s men will be strutting their stuff in the Europa League this summer.

The hosts have been beaten in just three of their last 11 matches on their own patch this season and the 8/13 quote for St Johnstone to avoid defeat on the final day of the season could well prove popular with punters.

The 11/5 (BetVictor) price, though, for St Johnstone to end the season with a win could well offer outstanding value for punters ahead of Sunday’s showdown in Perth; Rangers appear vulnerable and super Saints may well finish with a flourish against Caixinha’s charges this weekend.