The play-off for a place in next season’s Scottish Premiership has been penned in and it will be Dundee United and St Mirren. The tie will be decided over two legs on Thursday 23 May and Sunday 26 May and at the conclusion, the winner will be involved in next season’s top-flight fixture list with the loser left to rebuild their squad down in the Championship, visiting grounds like Cappielow and Palmerston Park on a regular basis. Here are our top Scottish Premiership Play-Off 1st Leg betting tips.
Football fans are starved for midweek entertainment at the minute with a number of European football’s top divisions winding down for the season. It’s about to get much worse too as, after the bank holiday weekend, there will be no football to speak of.
That will be swallow to take but there are plenty of other sports fixtures taking place, including cricket, golf, horse racing and tennis. Our team of sports betting experts will keep you up to date on the bets worth having, helping you boost your balance during the good weather.
We kick-off at Tannadice
Returning to more pressing matters and the first leg of the Scottish Premiership play-off will take place at Tannadice on Thursday with BT Sport showing all the action live from 7.45pm. This match will be crucial with Dundee United eager to make home advantage count to put themselves in a strong position before visiting Paisley, while St Mirren will want to keep the scores low and ensure they are in the mix when walking out in front of their own fans.
Which manager will get their wish? You can bet on the outcome of this match or have your say on who will win the play-offs. Major bookmakers offer over a hundred options in the first leg, including match winner, total goals, correct score, both teams to score, first goal scorer, handicap, half-time/full-time, total corners and the number of cards shown over the course of the 90 minutes. When the match is live, in-play betting keeps you involved with all firms offering odds throughout the course of play, with prices and lines updated to match the flow of the game.
Dundee United are no strangers to the play-offs as they bid to finally battle their way back into the Premiership and join the country’s elite. The extended season has brought them little joy in recent times, but they will be eager to improve on that here and find themselves two games away from promotion. The locals finished the regular season in second with stats of 19 wins and eight draws against nine defeats.
Dundee United Bounce Back from Defeat
They were beaten 1-0 by Greenock Morton on their final match of the season but bounced back when it mattered, scoring a 1-0 at Inverness in the play-off semi-final before hammering the highlanders 3-0 at Tannadice in the replay. Will they win again in front of their own fans and put pressure on an opponent that finished second bottom of the Premiership? Bookmakers certainly believe so and have the Dundee Utd win marked up as a 6/5 favourite with Bet365. The draw will net you 23/10 – best price with Bet365 – if you find yourself on the fence.
St Mirren finished the Premiership regular season strongly, claiming three wins and a couple of draws in their final five outings. That left them on 32 points, well ahead of bottom club Hamilton who were automatically relegated to the Championship, just a point behind Hamilton who were able to hold both their nerve and position in the closing weeks to escape the drop.
Evidence of just how well The Saints performed down the home straight can be seen when looking at their season form. They won three of their last five but only eight games over the course of the entire season. They drew two of five and eight since August. It was a difficult campaign for all involved at the Paisley club, but they have enjoyed a brief rest and can now rally to save their place at the head table for another year.
Saints Have Been Overpriced
To give themselves the best chance of doing that they must win at Tannadice or remain competitive before relying on home advantage to see them through. The money men are dead against St Mirren’s chances of winning this match, however, and Bet365 are confident enough to offer a chunky 23/10 on the away win. That will catch the eye of value hunters and looks worth a bet to us.
St Mirren are from the division above and, despite a difficult season, have the better standard of player on a higher wage. They also have a group who know relegation will likely cost them their job at the club and they will be released due to cost cutting measures. Keep that in mind and then add the fact St Mirren are in good recent form and come in on the back of a break which has allowed them to refresh from a tough season. While the players have been recovering, their opponents have been involved in a double-header with Inverness, including a trek to the highlands.
These factors push us to take on the bookies and back St Mirren for the away win at 23/10 (Bet365). That’s a bigger price than we think it should be in such a tight contest and represents good value. If you’d like a bit more of a safety net when betting on this fixture you can bet on St Mirren to win the tie over two legs, a market that can be found under the name ‘to qualify’. The Saints are 11/10 with William Hill, which makes more sense than 10/11 at Bet365.