Livingston v Hibs
The first of our March 30 Scottish Premiership betting tips is for Livingston v Hibs. The weekend gets started here as BT Sport bring us live coverage of this match from 7.45pm on Friday night. Livi have held their own in this division so far but they appear to have played their best football and a run of poor form in the early exchanges of 2019 has led to them slipping down the pecking order. The Lions have won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five and that has them eighth in the pile, with little more than an outside chance of grabbing a top-six finish. Victory here would see them move to within four points of Hibs in sixth. The locals are 2/1 at Coral and we’ll take a stab at that one.
New Manager
Hibs have improved since Lennon left for Celtic with new manager Paul Heckingbottom making the move to Scottish football without drama. The Edinburgh club are unbeaten in five, that run made up of four wins and a draw. They beat Motherwell 2-0 at home before the international break and now have a real chance of leapfrogging Hearts and finishing above their great rivals in the pecking order. Hibs will want to finish as high up the division as possible, but fans will be eager to better The Jambos at all costs. They are favourites but the plastic pitch will make it difficult and we’re not impressed by the 6/4 (Bet365) for an away day.
Our Tip: Livingston to win – 2/1 at Coral
St Mirren v Dundee
This is a real relegation shoot-out as bottom plays second bottom. Just a point separates the sides heading into this match and although it’s likely both will be involved in relegation come the end of the season, only one team goes down automatically, with the club finishing 11th handed a chance to save their skins in a match against the Championship play-off winners. St Mirren must make home advantage count, but they have picked up just one win in their last five and were beaten by Kilmarnock at home on 11 March before seeing their fixture away to St Johnstone abandoned due to the snow fall that week. The locals are favourites with all major bookmakers, Ladbrokes offering a market best price of 6/5.
A Point Better Off
Dundee are one place and a point better than their opponents at this stage of the season, but they have played a game more and are stuck on a spirit-crushing four-game losing streak. Dundee have spent the majority of the season down at the wrong end of the charts and it’s looking increasingly likely they will finish bottom and be dumped down into the Championship, a fate that would have drastic consequences for their bank balance.
The Dee went agonisingly close to getting a home draw with Celtic last time but were floored by a 96th minute winner from Edouard, their second 1-0 loss on the bounce after Hearts dished out the same punishment in the game before. Neil Lennon labelled it a big win for his side, Jim McIntyre thought the time added on was strange. The away day looks worth a small bet at 13/5 – top price with Bet365.
Our Tip: Dundee to win – 13/5 at Bet365
Celtic v Rangers
The last of our March 30 Scottish Premiership betting tips is for Celtic v Rangers. There’s a full fixture card from the Scottish Premiership this weekend but followers are left in no doubt of the headline act as Celtic host Rangers at Parkhead in a Sunday 12.00pm kick-off shown live on Sky Sports. The locals go into the third Old Firm derby of the season top of the league and well on their way to lifting yet another Scottish top-flight title as they move closer to a record-breaking 10-in-a-row. Victory here would put an end to Rangers’ faint hopes of fighting back once and for all, and that’s what bookmakers expect to see.
Celtic’s season was hampered with the departure of manager Brendan Rodgers who left for Leicester City, the Northern Irishman desperate for another crack at the Premier League. He has made a strong start to life at the King Power, but Celtic haven’t suffered either. The board moved swiftly to bring former player and manager Neil Lennon back in on a temporary basis and the gaffer will be eager to complete the treble-treble and win the job permanently. The Bhoys drew 0-0 with Aberdeen when last at home and needed a stoppage-time winner to beat Dundee before the international break, but odds makers have them priced as favourite with Ladbrokes offering a market best price of 17/20. The draw can be backed at 12/5 with Coral.
Last Chance Saloon
Steven Gerrard’s Bears are drinking in the last chance saloon as time runs out of their hopes of stopping the rot. A win at Parkhead could close the gap to seven points with another Old Firm to come but even that probably wouldn’t be enough to turn the tide. Rangers have lost the same number of games as the league leaders this season, but a run of draws has cost them dear and that will come back to haunt them. Six points dropped from three games against Hibs is a particular sore point for fans as two of those shares came from winning positions and the 0-0 saw the blues do everything but score at Easter Road.
Rangers started the year in fine form but have tapered off of late and the support is becoming restless with questions asked of Gerrard and his tactics. There’s no doubt he has improved the team from top to bottom and will continue to do so but critics accuse him of being tactically naïve at times, while waiting too long to make changes. They were woeful last time out when dropping two points at home to Kilmarnock when a response was needed and failure to be competitive across the city will see the pressure heaped on. The away win has been written off at 7/2 – top price at Bet365 – but they deserve better than that. Celtic are still finding their feet under Lennon and that price looks worth a play at interest stakes.