SCOTTISH football aficionado Gerry Taylor (@thefurlongpole) shares his verdict on Sunday's best bets from the Scottish Cup and Premiership schedule.
Celtic vs Aberdeen | Sunday 1st November 2020, 14:30 | Premier Sports
Seven days ago these two teams played out an entertaining 3-3 draw in the Premiership at Pittodrie. The second half in particular really took off, this period contained five goals and both of these sides had good attacking spells within this half.
Goals
Despite shipping two second half goals to draw in the Europa League in Lille on Thursday evening, Hoops boss Neil Lennon seemed a bit happier with his teams showing. Although he has another injury in central defence, as Kristofer Ajer limped off.
Derek McInnes will take heart from the way his attack gave the Celtic defence problems in the latter stages of last Sunday's clash, as they chased and ultimately grabbed the equaliser. With this in mind, and the fact that it's a Scottish Cup semi-final and neither team seems to fear the other, I'm recommending Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals at 13/8 with SkyBet.
Cards
I always like card bets when teams are going head-to-head again in quick succession. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that. There was surprisingly only three yellow cards though last Sunday, when these two faced off – but there was a few incidents missed by the officials.
Don Robertson oversees this one. Here are some of the card stats:
- In the 10 matches he has been in charge of this season, Robertson has given out 43 yellow cards.
- In the 19/20 season he dished out 8 red cards in 29 matches, and averaged 3.5 yellow cards in Premiership games.
- In the most recent semi-final(almost 2 years ago) at Hampden in the League Cup there were 7 yellow cards brandished.
- In the Dundee Utd/Hibs match he was in in charge of in early August, 40+ bookings points landed for this WLB column within the first 45 minutes.
Hence, I fancy 40+ Bookings Points quite strongly at 10/11 with SkyBet.
Lewis Ferguson
I make no apologies, but I can't help putting up a player once again, who has been highly profitable to follow this season, for both myself and WLB followers – and here's four reasons why:
- He has scored 9 goals in 16 matches this season.
- Lewis has netted a brace twice this term.
- Celtic have been conceding at least 5 penalties this season.
- The 17/2 anytime and the 100/1 price to net two – are too generous based on previous matches.
In a stormy Halloween weekend weather-wise, I wonder if lightning can strike twice?
Kilmarnock vs Rangers | Sunday 1st November 2020, 12:00 | Sky Sports
Rangers, suffice to say, are on a great run, winning 15 of their 17 matches in league and Europe in the 20/21 season thus far.
In recent games, Steven Gerrard has pretty much kept changes to a minimum in defence, but has had the luxury of not only rotating his midfielders, but also the last three games he has been able to use either Alfredo Morelos, Kemar Roofe or Jermaine Defoe as his main focal point in attack.
Kilmarnock under Alex Dyer, after a sticky start, have managed to win four of their last six league matches. in this sequence, Killie have only lost to third and fourth-place teams Hibs and Aberdeen.
Players like Kirk Broadfoot, Stuart Findlay, Alan Power, Gary Dicker and Aaron Tshibola ensure that Killie still have a good strong backbone to the side that did so well under Steve Clarke.
Rangers at Rugby Park
Recent results:
- Feb ’20 Kilmarnock 2-1 Rangers
- Aug ’19 Kilmarnock 1-2 Rangers
- Jan ’19 Kilmarnock 2-1 Rangers
- Dec ’17 Kilmarnock 2-1 Rangers
- Apr ’17 Kilmarnock 0-0 Rangers
- Aug ’16 Kilmarnock 1-1 Rangers
As you can see, the Gers have perhaps found Rugby Park the trickiest Scottish away venue in recent times. On the back of this Betway’s Kilmarnock+2 handicap appeals at 23/20 (Gentingbet). This bet would have paid out on the Teddy Bears’ last six league visits to Ayrshire.
With the guaranteed difficult conditions and the stubborn opposition, if you offered Gerrard pre-match a one goal victory, I’m thinking he'd snap your hand off, hence the bet suggested could be a runner.
Best Bets
Celtic vs Aberdeen – Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals (13/8 SkyBet)
Celtic vs Aberdeen – 40+ Booking Points (10/11 SkyBet)
Celtic vs Aberdeen – Lewis Ferguson to score at anytime (17/2 Bet365)
Celtic vs Aberdeen – Lewis Ferguson to score 2+ goals (100/1 Bet365)
Kilmarnock vs Rangers – Kilmarnock +2 handicap (23/20 Gentingbet)
