In the First Division, Queen of the South hope to get their league campaign on the rails again when Partick Thistle come to Dumfries and St. Johnstone take on Dunfermline in the game of the weekend. In the Second Division, the top top four teams all play against each other, while Annan Athletic will fancy their chances of remaining at the top of the Third Division when East Stirlingshire head south.
And so onto this weekends games, and we begin in Edinburgh where Hibernian take on Falkirk.
Scottish Premier League
Hibernian vs Falkirk
Both sides lost their opening day's fixtures but though they have that defeat in common, playing-wise the two sides could not be further apart. While Hibs where struggling to create chances, Falkirk where playing the kind of football that has gotten John Hughes' side noticed - attractive passing football, rather than humphing the ball towards the opposition goal. And it's in that final third that Falkirk need to improve: they need to take their chances when they come. Historically, Hibernian have a slightly better record against Falkirk, but the games have always been relatively tight affairs. We go for a Hibs win again purely because of the home advantage, but it wont be a high-scoring game. Team News.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle vs Hamilton Academicals
The two teams that raised the eyebrows last week meet in the first top of the table clash of the season. Inverness put their claim on the top spot last Saturday when they defeated Aberdeen at Pittodrie, something they had failed to do in all of the previous competitive meetings between the two sides. Hamilton meanwhile defeated Craig Levein's Dundee United, a team tipped by many pundits to finish the season in third spot. Instead they're down at the bottom with Aberdeen. The 3-1 scoreline was the end result of some cracking football against, admittedly, a strong United team that put in a poor performance. Against Caley we'll see how good Hamilton are defensively as you can expect Caley to come out with a more attacking mindset. There have only been three meetings between these two sides, with Caley winning twice and Accies winning the other. So here we have two teams brimming with confidence which will make for a good game. Despite a good showing from Accies last weekend, we go for a Caley win. Team News.
Motherwell vs Aberdeen
Motherwell are Aberdeen's bogey team - the Dons lost three of the four encounters with Mark McGhee's men last season and drew the other. Aberdeen put in a poor performance against Inverness last Saturday. Despite having all the possession and chances in the opening minutes, they lost the game to two cracking Caley goals. After that, the heads went down, the crowd became restless and Aberdeen lost their first game of the season in front of a crowd that, judging by the boos at the final whistle, expected better. Calderwood needs to work his magic to get a result here and win the fans over. The good news is that Motherwell did not defend well in their defeat to Hearts last weekend, so perhaps this is a good moment for new Dons signing Tommy Wright to make his appearance and get Aberdeen scoring again. We go with history and a Motherwell victory. Team News.
Rangers vs Hearts
Rangers play their first game at Ibrox against a Hearts side reborn under their new manager. The Jambos won against Motherwell last weekend and that win should fill them with confidence to pull off a result against Rangers. The Ibrox side are still smarting from all that's happened this week and go into the game without the Aston Villa-bound Carlos Cuellar in central defence. The other thing that might distract Rangers from the game is the possibility of a supporters protest in the second half, rumoured to involve a walk-out. Rangers won last weekend against Falkirk, but it was not an easy or pretty win and we expect Rangers to struggle through again, despite the home advantage. Last season, Hearts won the first encounter between the sides 4-2 against a side that still had Cuellar, Hutton and Ferguson playing - how times have changed. There's been some good news today for Rangers as Portsmouth accepted a £3m bid for midfielder Pedro Mendes, but they say bad news comes in threes - Cuellar, Loovens and .... We think this game will be the upset of the day - we're going to stick our necks out and go for a Hearts win. Team News.
St Mirren vs Kilmarnock
Jim Jefferies will have been glad to get the season off with a win, while Gus McPherson will take heart from the fact that though they lost to Celtic last weekend, his side played well - certainly well enough to get a result against Killie. The 1-0 win for each side where the only two goals scored in the four games between these two teams last season. St. Mirren will be out to build on their performance against Celtic, while Killie will hope to continue their good start with three points. These are two teams we've got at the bottom of the table come the end of the season. It's not going to be pretty, but we go for a draw. Team News.
Dundee United vs Celtic (Sunday)
The Sunday game - Celtic's second in a row - has Dundee United taking on a team that they've not beaten at home since August 1999. Celtic's gala day last weekend was spoiled by a not altogether convincing victory against St. Mirren but, like the true champions we think they'll be again this season, they got the win and the points. Dundee United lost their opening day fixture last Monday against Hamilton Accies in a performance that even Craig Levein said they deserved. Poor defending let them down and they need to close the gaps at the back, otherwise expect more of the same this week. We go for a Celtic win. Team News.
Scottish Division One
Following some midweek Cup action, the teams in the First Division get back to some good old fashioned league action. Some of the teams will have been involved in the Challenge Cup in midweek so expect some tired performances.
Airdrie welcome league leaders Dundee. Airdrie manager Kenny Black was none too impressed following his sides win over East Fife in midweek. Despite the win, he felt his side looked nervous and need to overcome that to get results against bigger and better teams. Dingwall side Ross County are finding the going tough in their new division so far, having lost both their game so far and leading the divisions card table with 8 yellow and 2 red cards. They take on Clyde, themselves with only 1 point following their draw last week. Two sides that are just a point apart meet when Morton entertain Livingston at Cappielow. Livingston go into this game with their defence still the same as the one they lined up in their win against Ross County last week, the club having turned down speculative bids for defenders James McPake and Dave Mackay from Motherwell and St. Mirren. Last November Livingston win this tie 6-1. The top tie in the First Division this weekend is the one between St. Johnstone and Dunfermline. St. Johnstone drew 2-2 with Morton last weekend while Dunfermline won 1-0 at home against Queen of the South. There's never been much between these two sides - last season, a 1-1 draw and a 1-0 win for the Saints was how it ended.
On Sunday, Partick Thistle travel to Palmerston Park as they continue their winning ways against Queen of the South. The Doonhamers have just come off the back of a midweek defeat in the UEFA Cup that sees their chances of getting through to the next round of that competition seriously diminished - perfect time then for Gordon Chisholm's men to focus on a good domestic league season, starting with a win in this game.
Scottish Division Two
The teams currently in first, second and third spot in the Second Division - Brechin, Arbroath and Peterhead - are a trio of teams proudly representing the north-east of Scotland, with Brechin the only side in the Second Division to have won all their games so far. In a quirk of this weekends fixture list, we have all four top teams playing each other: Brechin play Peterhead while Ayr are at home to Arbroath. East Fife play Queens Park and Stranraer take on Stirling Albion. Raith Rovers are away to Alloa, a side still looking for their first win of the season.
Scottish Division Three
Annan Athletic still lead the table following their draw at Dumbarton last Saturday. This week they're at home again to entertain East Stirling. Second placed Stenhousemuir are also at home against Montrose, Berwick take on Dumbarton and Forfar welcome Elgin City to Station Park. Albion Rovers, still without a point this season try to correct that when they travel to Cowdenbeath.
Scot-Ads Highland Football League
It's been another busy football week in the Highlands. On Wednesday Banff side Deveronvale knocked 10-man Highland League champions Cove Rangers out of the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup (4-1), while Huntly beat Inverurie Loco Works in the same competition with two goals in the last ten minutes against an Inverurie side down to nine men (2-1).
Following all that rough 'n tumble, this Saturday it's back to more sedate league action. The weekend's grudge match sees Wick Academy welcome Fraserburgh in a rematch of last weeks North Region Challenge Cup tie that saw a big scrimmage and a few sendings-off towards the end of the game. Fort William are still looking for their first win of the season, but don't expect it to come against Nairn County. Last week the Fort where knocked out of the North Region Challenge Cup by a Shetland FA Select which surely represented a new low for the club. With Cove Rangers not playing this week, the games of the week are Keith against Lossiemouth and Inverurie against Forres Mechanics, all teams on three points and hoping to take over from Cove at the top of the table.
The weekends full fixture lists reads as follows -
Buckie Thistle v Huntly
Clachnacuddin v Deveronvale
Fort William v Nairn County
Inverurie Locos v Forres Mechanics
Keith v Lossiemouth
Rothes v Brora Rangers
Wick Academy v Fraserburgh
Highland League Expansion
There's been talk of expanding the Highland League to sixteen teams by 2009/10 and Golspie Sutherland made a good case when they knocked Highland League side Clachnacuddin out of the North Challenge Cup earlier this month. The team are the current defending champions in the North Caledonian Football League, a league which is something of a stepping stone to senior football - in recent years both Fort William and Wick Academy left to join the HFL. Sutherland is already represented in the league by Brora Rangers, but they're unlikely to challenge for the league title anytime soon, and the feeling is that Golspie would make a good addition to the current setup. Other possible candidates from that league include Alness (winners in '01 and '05), Thurso ('00 and '03) and Ballintore ('90, '91 and '06). As always, SFA rules would make entry to the league practically impossible for all the teams in the league, but you have to ask what sense there is in having clubs build stands that they'll probably never fill. In any case, football is alive and well up in the Highlands. (Elaine Garrow)
Apparently Rangers are in for another American as well, as some US sources are reporting that MLS/Toronto FC have accepted Rangers $5m bid for American defensive midfielder Maurice Edu.
ReplyDeleteEdu was named rookie of the year last year in his first season in the league and has made starts for both the senior and youth national teams. Edu should be on his way back from the Olympics where he showed his versatility by playing in the center of the defense for the US Olympic Team.
If I didn't hate Rangers so much, it would be nice to have a rooting interest, but overall I think it'll be a good move for Rangers.