We preview week 16 of the Scottish Premier League with the first matches of the round set to kick off on Saturday 2 December.
The pick of the weekend’s SPL action will see a floundering Rangers side take on Aberdeen for the second time in five days. Elsewhere, Celtic face Motherwell at Parkhead a week after lifting the Scottish League Cup for the 17th time.
At the other end of the table Ross County welcome a Dundee side who are fresh off a 2-1 over Rangers while Partick Thistle will look to take advantage of Hibernian’s recent wobble when they face off at Firhill Stadium.
This preview was written prior to the two midweek matches featuring Motherwell vs Celtic and Rangers vs Aberdeen.
Saturday 2 December
St. Johnstone 21/20 | Draw 9/4 | Kilmarnock 51/20
The Saints have been out of action for the since their hard-fought 2-1 win against Hibernian on 18 November. That win against a high-flying Hibs team broke a run of five losses and a draw in all competitions. Tommy Wright will be confident in his side’s chances against a Killie outfit who’ve spent the entirety of this season in and around the bottom three.
Kilmarnock were easily seen off at the weekend as title hopefuls Aberdeen cruised to a 3-1 win at Rugby Park. Truth be told it should have been more with the Dons completely and utterly dominant, even having a legitimate goal chalked off thanks some pretty average officiating. The hosts are on the up and should claim the points here, back them to do just that.
Partick Thistle 36/10 | Draw 26/10 | Hibernian 7/10
Partick Thistle will battle at home this weekend against Hibs. Rock bottom of the table with the joint worst goal difference in the league, they’ll do well to keep the scoreline respectable against their free-scoring opposition. They did manage to grab a point last time out against Hearts, but that will count for very little when Hibernian come calling with their relentless attacking play.
Hibernian really should have pulled clear of Hamilton by the time the Accies got their equaliser at the weekend. The result would have left Neil Lennon seething. The fiery redhead had Aberdeen and Celtic firmly in his sights a few weeks ago, however, the acquisition of a single point in two league matches has seen them lose further ground on the top two – both of whom have games in hand. Away win is the way to go here.
Ross County 21/20 | Draw 24/10 | Dundee 23/10
A combination of great goalkeeping from Aaron McCarey and poor finishing from Hearts saw Ross County escape from Tynecastle with a share of the points last weekend. Their draw, coupled with Hamilton’s win sees them slide down the table into ninth, within reach of Kilmarnock and Saturday’s opposition Dundee.
Dundee pulled off the result of the season this weekend as they beat Rangers 2-1 at Dens Park. The win piles more even more pressure on Gers, but more importantly lifts Dee off the bottom of the table. They’ll do well to repeat that performance away from home, however. Not really sure which way this will go. Neither of these sides score many. With that in mind, under 2.5 goals is tipped at 19/20.
Hearts 15/20 | Draw 26/10 | Hamilton 32/10
We’re off to Edinburgh next where Hearts go head to head with Hamilton. The Jambos were wasteful last weekend, squandering numerous opportunities on their way to a 0-0 draw with Ross County. Craig Levein’s men are now without a win in their last five and will need to lift their game if they want to break back into the top half of the table.
Hamilton certainly are a team on the up. Having lost six on the spin between 8 September and 21 October, they’ve now gone five unbeaten in the league. Results have included 2-2 draw against Aberdeen as well as a first league win at Ibrox against Rangers since 1926. Hamilton are in great touch at the moment and you wouldn’t bet against them coming away with something here. Get on the away double chance at 19/20.
Celtic 1/7 | Draw 13/2 | Motherwell 14/1
Celtic bounced back nicely following their 7-1 thrashing at the hands of PSG in midweek to lift the Scottish League Cup against Motherwell with a straight-forward 2-0 win. Interestingly enough, they will face the Steelmen again this weekend and will hope to dominate just as they did at Hampden Park last weekend.
Whether or not Motherwell would have recovered from the heartbreak of missing out on the League Cup last weekend remains to be seen. It would have been their first major piece of silverware since 1991 when they lifted the Scottish Cup. That said, they were thoroughly outplayed by the Bhoys last and are likely to struggle again when they make the trip to Parkhead. Celtic’s defensive record in the league this season has been unreal – just six conceded throughout this season – with that in mind, take the hosts to win to nil at 8/10.
Sunday 3 December
Aberdeen 33/20 | Draw 24/10 | Rangers 29/20
We round things off this week with a curious fixture in the sense that Rangers and Aberdeen will play two league matches against one another in the space of five days. The first encounter will take place on Wednesday at Ibrox before the teams meet once again on Sunday, this time at Pittodrie. The Dons couldn’t have wished for a better time to face Rangers, and the fact that they’re getting two cracks at them this week will delight Derek McInnes to no end. Six points against Gers will consolidate the Dons’ grip on second place and will ramp up the pressure on Celtic at the summit.
Rangers have been absolutely woeful of late. There was a brief resurgence following the sacking of Pedro Caixinha with big wins over Partick Thistle and Hearts. Since then, however, they’ve lost back to back to Hamilton and Dundee as they lose further ground on the top sides. Massive value on the home win here. While the Dons haven’t been entirely convincing of late themselves, they should still have more than enough to get past Rangers.
