Saturday 11 February 2012

SPL - 11th Feb Team News & Thoughts

Dunfermline v Rangers (12 noon KO)


Dunfermline

Injuries - Gallacher, Phinn, Bell
Ineligible - Hutton (cant play against parent club)

Available Squad - Turner, Rutkiewicz, Boyle, McCann, McMillan, Dowie, Keddie, Hardie, Mason, Kerr, Cardle, Willis, Graham, Kirk, Buchanan, Byrne, Smith, Thomson, McDougall, Burns

Probable XI - Turner, McMillan, Rutkiewicz, Keddie, Boyle, Graham, Cardle, Hardie, Burns, Kirk, Buchanan (4-4-2)


Rangers


Injuries - Naismith, Lafferty, Whittaker, Ness

Available squad - McGregor, Papac, Wylde, Bocanegra, Wallace, Goian, Bartley, Davis, Aluko, Edu, Celik, Kerkar, Healy, Little, Alexander, McCulloch, Broadfoot, Hemmings

Probable XI - McGregor, Bartley, Bocanegra, Goian, Papac, Aluko, Davis, McCulloch, Wallace, Wylde, Healy (4-5-1)


Prediction : Dunfermline 0-1 Rangers

I think a lot of people were shocked last week with just how poor Rangers were in their cup exit to Dundee Utd, what it did do though was highlight just how thin their squad is. They have just 17 players and a sub goalie. Was seriously not impressed with their new hopefuls Kerkar and Celik - they are not the answer! I think they are very lucky they are playing Dunfermline this week and not a better team as they are there for the taking. Rangers simply now have nothing upfront with only Healy so i expect them to concentrate in defence and keep a clean sheet here.  Rangers have only lost one of their 30 SPL meetings with Dunfermline (W24, D5)    Only Rangers to score @ 1.95 (bet365)


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Celtic v Inverness CT


Celtic

Injuries - none
Doubtful Rogne

Available Squad - Forster, Cha, Matthews, Rogne, Majstorovic, Kelvin Wilson, Rogne, Izaguirre, Mulgrew, Brown, Ki, Ibrahim, Ledley, Wanyama, Forrest, Commons, Stokes, Hooper, Samaras, Zaluska, Brozek, McGeouch

Probable XI - Forster, Wilson, Majstorovic, Mulgrew, Matthews, Forrest, Brown, Ledley, Wanyama, Stokes, Hooper (4-4-2)


Inverness CT


Injuries - Williams, McKay, Tudur-Jones, Doran, Golobart, Hogg, A. Shinnie

Available squad - Esson, Piermayr, Tokely, Gillet, Proctor, Meekings, Hayes, Tansey, Foran, Tade, G Shinnie, Ross, Morrison, Sutherland, Winnall, Gnakpa, Tuffey, Williams

Probable XI - Esson, Piermayr, Tokeley, Gillet, Proctor, Meekings, Hayes, Tansey, Foran, Tade, Ross (4-4-2)


Prediction : Celtic 4-0 Inverness

Celtic are an unstoppable machine at the moment and it is very difficult to see them being touched right now. Happy to take the CELTIC -2 handicap @ 2.2 (bet365)
Poor Inverness are just going to get a bit of the same here after last weeks easy cup win for Celtic in the highlands I expect Celtic to better the 2-0 score line at home.


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Hibs v Aberdeen


Hibs

Injuries - Soares, Galbraith, Murray
Suspended - Griffiths, Hanlon, McPake
Available Squad - Stack, Francomb, Towell, Stephens, Booth, Sproule, Wotherspoon, Stevenson, Scott, Osbourne, Welsh, Doyle, Claros, Kujabi, O'Donovan, Doherty, O'Connor, Brown

Probable XI - Stack, Doherty, Francomb, Stephens, Kujabi, Wotherspoon, Claros, Osbourne, Sproule, O'Connor, Doyle (4-4-2)


Aberdeen


Injuries - Anderson,  Milsom, Osbourne, Folly, Rae, Pawlett, Paton, Uchechi

Available squad - Brown, Considine, McArdle, Reynolds, Robertson, Clark, Arnason, Jack, Fyvie, Vernon, Megginson, Chalali, Fallon, Langfield, Magennis, Mackie, Hughes, Mawene

Probable XI - Brown, McArdle, Reynolds, Considine, Jack, Clark, Arnason, Hughes, Fyvie, Fallon, Vernon (4-4-2)


Prediction : Hibs 1-1 Aberdeen

Really hard to predict what the Hibs team will be at the moment with so many new faces being brought in by the new manager. They are struggling a bit for players at the back with a shortage due to suspensions and injuries. Aberdeen are also missing a bunch of players through injury so its a NO BET for me!


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Kilmarnock v Hearts


Kilmarnock

Injuries - Pascali

Available Squad - Bell, Nelson, Hay, Fowler, Gordon, Racchi, Shiels, Dayton, Silva, Kelly, Johnson, Heffernan, Letheren, Kroca, Van Tornhout, Toshney, Fisher, Kennedy.

Probable XI - Bell, Fowler, Kroca, Nelson, Gordon, Dayton, Kelly, Racchi, Hay, Shiels, Heffernen (4-4-1-1)


Hearts


Injuries - Kyle, Kello (wont be selected after arguing with Mad Vlad)

Available squad - MacDonald, Barr, Hamill, Grainger, McGowan, Webster, Zaliukas, Mrowiec, Black, Robinson, Skacel, Novikovas, Elliott, Obua, Santana, Mullen, Smith, Glen, Taouil, Driver, Ridgers, Holt, Templeton

Probable XI - MacDonald, Hamill, Webster, Zaliukas, Grainger, Driver, Black, Mrowiec, Skacel, Robinson, Elliott (4-4-1-1)


Prediction : Kilmarnock 0-0 Hearts

Could be a bit of bite in this match after the idiot Kilmarnock manager has again been mouthing off silly comments. Same old problem for Hearts though is their terrible away record. Best bet apart from laying Hearts is probably on under 2.5 goals @ 1.7 (StanJames)

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St Johnstone v Dundee Utd


St Johnstone

Injuries - none
Doubtful - M. Davidson
Available Squad - Enckelman, C Davidson, McCracken, MacKay, Anderson, Morris, Croft, Craig, Sheridan, M Davidson, Sandaza, Haber, Compton, Gray, Stewart, Millar, Moffat, Mannus

Probable XI - Esson, Mackay, Anderson, McCracken, C. Davidson, Robertson, Morris, M. Davidson, Craig, Sandaza, Sheridan (4-4-2)


Dundee Utd


Injuries - Swanson, Severin, Mentel

Available squad - Pernis, Dillon, Gunning, Neilson, Kenneth, Watson, Dixon, Douglas, Armstrong, S Robertson, Ryan, Flood, Mackay-Steven, Rankin, Russell, Lacny, Daly, Dow, Banks

Probable XI - Pernis, Neilson, Kenneth, Gunning, Dixon, Armstrong, Rankin, Robertson, Mackay-Steven, Daly, Russell (4-4-2)


Prediction : St Johnstone 1-2 Dundee Utd

Dundee Utd were really very good last week in their cup win against Rangers at Ibrox. Rangers were appalling but lets not take anything away from Utd. They are very solid at the back and play on the counter attack very affectively. I got a look at their new loanee from Sparta Prague, Milos Lacny, and he looks like a big lively striker that will cause defences lots of trouble. I think though Utd will have the same starting lineup but I expect to see the Slovak at some point. St Johnstone were very poor in the 1st half against Hearts in the cup but then came out in the 2nd half and dominated the game even managing to find a late equalizer despite being down to 10 men (very annoying!)

I think Both Teams to Score  @ 1.8 (skybet) looks a great bet here. Motherwell have scored in their last 9 games and St Johnstone have scored in their last 7.


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St Mirren v Motherwell


St Mirren

Injuries - Murray, McLean, McGregor

Available Squad - Samson, Van Zanten, McAusland, Mair, Tesselaar, Barron, Mooy, Carey, Teale, McGowan, Imrie, Thompson, Smith, Thomson, Hasselbaink, Reilly, Naismith

Probable XI - Samson, Van Zanten, Mair, McAusland, Tesselaar, Goodwin, Mooy, Carey, Teale, Imrie, Thompson (4-4-2)


Motherwell


Injuries - Saunders, Hollis

Available squad - Randolph, Clancy, Hammell, Hutchinson, Jennings, Daley, Law, Lasley, Hateley, Murphy, Humphrey, Ojamaa, Forbes, McHugh, Page, Lawless, Carswell, Bradley, Craigan

Probable XI - Randolph, Hateley, Clancy, Craigan, Hammell, Law, Jennings, Lasley, Murphy, Ojamaa, Higdon (4-4-2)


Prediction : St Mirren 0-2 Motherwell

I really think this is a great opportunity to back Motherwell who are really going well against a St Mirren team that are starting to struggle in my opinion. I'm a big fan of the football that Motherwell play and they have great balance in  their team coupled with a mix of experience and youth. In fact it is no real surprise to me that they are rightly in 3rd place. All the talk is of their new little super star loan signing, who I mentioned a couple of weeks back, Ojamaa. He has managed to bagged 5 goals since his arrival and has had as many assists also. Sashing little player!

Just to keep things a bit safer I'm going for Motherwell DNB @ 2.0 (William Hill) - I am stunned this price is available!
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