Jim Delahunt’s betting tips on Celtic v Morton, St Johnstone v Rangers, Hibs v Hearts, the weekend action and his acca
BRIGHTON have won their last 3 road matches at Southampton, Everton and Middlesbrough and the Seagulls can make it 4 in a row by winning at Leicester tomorrow.
Roberto de Zerbi's team is growing in stature every time they take the field and there was little fluke about last week's 3-0 dismantling of Liverpool to ake it 3 straight wins since their 4-2 defeat by leaders Arsenal.
Leicester have lost their last 4 league games with only one goal scored away to Liverpool and their 2-2-5 home record and only 9 goals scored at the King Power have reflected the general malaise since losing 5-2 at Brighton in September.
The visitors are slightly odds-against at 21/20 and their style of play suggests de Zerbi will see this as a winning opportunity and a genuine chance to leapfrog Fulham (play Monday) and Spurs into a heady 5th place in the table.
Wolves landed the headline bet last Saturday at 17/10 but I can't give them any chance of winning at the Etihad on Sunday after 2/11 Manchester City's second half performance against Spurs on Thursday.
I will be backing leaders ARSENAL at 4/5 at home to Manchester United though with Mikel Arteta's players going great guns at the top of the table and looking to maintain their 5 points advantage in the 4.30 kick-off.
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Liverpool will need to show dramatic improvement to get the better of Chelsea in tomorrow's lunchtime kick-off and I like the look of the draw here at a general 13/5 with both sides keen to avoid defeat.
Bottom club SOUTHAMPTON rounded off their best week of the season by winning at Everton last Saturday and I reckon Saints are a great bet to beat Aston Villa at St Mary's tomorrow.
Two goals from James Ward-Prowse gave Nathan Jones' side 3 points to add to their League and FA and Carabao Cup wins over Crystal Palace and Manchester City and today's general 9/5 looks terrific value.
Saints have another big week ahead with their League Cup semi-final against Newcastle on Tuesday followed by another home game in the FA Cup against Blackpool and they can start with a second home league win of the campaign.
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The top two in the Championship played last night and third placed WATFORD can stay ahead of the chasing pack by beating Rotherham at 8/15 after last week's 2-0 win over Blackpool.
PLYMOUTH look rock solid to beat Cheltenham at a general 1/2 in League One after their latest 3 games yielded two league draws and a cup win on the road and a home win for OXFORD over Ipswich looks the value single price of 5/2.
League Two's match of the day sees FA Cup giant-killers STEVENAGE at home to leaders Leyton Orient and the visitors' recent lack of goals gives Steve Evans' side a great chance to win at 11/10 and close the gap to 2 points.
The weather looks sure to play a part in today's Scottish Cup fixtures but I'm keen on PARTICK to beat Dunfermline at EVENS and ST MIRREN to beat Dundee at 4/6 if the Maryhill and Paisley venues are good to go.
Saturday SINGLE
MANCHESTER UTD landed last week's bet at 16/5 and I'm happy to head down to League One to find OXFORD priced at 5/2 and better to beat high-flying Ipswich.
Weekend ACCA
4 out of 5 last week with the Queen's Park game ending goalless but the top 5 all in England tomorrow and the acca pays out at around 26/1.
- Brighton 21/20
- Southampton 9/5
- Watford 8/15
- Plymouth 1/2
- Stevenage 11/10
CELTIC V MORTON - Saturday 12.15pm BBC1 Scotland
Dougie Imrie's players travel up the M8 as 60/1 outsiders to cause the shock of the round in 90 minutes with Celtic multiples backers being accommodated between 1/18 at Coral and 1/40 with Hills.
Neutral BBC viewers will be keen to see some sort of a contest in tomorrow's lunchtime kick-off but an early Celtic goal could open the floodgates and Morton could be looking at damage limitation within 20 minutes.
I can't see Morton holding out until half time so Celtic/Celtic HT/FT looks the simplest way to go here at what could turn out to be a value 3/10.
ST JOHNSTONE V RANGERS - Saturday 5.30pm Viaplay Sports 1
Rangers did extremely well to overcome Aberdeen and Kilmarnock away from Ibrox last week and they look pretty solid best-priced 2/5 chances to get the job done in 90 minutes against Saints.
Callum Davidson's players have lost their last 5 league games including 3 in Perth and I thought they were woeful against Livingston last week when they seemed to have a good opportunity to stop the rot.
November's 2-1 win over Gers seems a lifetime ago but Aberdeen and Killie both found a way to goal last week and Rangers to win with both teams to score looks a value price at around 11/5.
HIBERNIAN V HEARTS - Sunday 2pm Viaplay Sports 1
Hibs have managed 5 goals in 2 games since losing 3-0 to Hearts at Tynecastle but the Jambos have continued in excellent form themselves and I'm taking them to win Sunday's Easter Road showdown.
Kevin Nisbet's form and home advantage will get plenty interested at 2/1 for the Hibs win but Hearts' dismantling of Aberdeen seems to have been lost in Dons' tales of woe and I think they'll win again.
Both teams to score at 4/6 looks a likely scenario if Hibs have learned as much as they should have done from Tynecastle but Hearts have the players to win this at 13/10.
DARVEL V ABERDEEN - Monday 7.45pm BBC1 Scotland
It's obviously unthinkable for Jim Goodwin's Aberdeen career were the Dons to lose to their 35/1 Junior opponents on Monday but there's every chance they could lose a goal and that's the way to go here.
Wednesday's mauling by Hearts was surely an aberration after the Reds' excellent showing against Rangers at Hampden but form away from Pittodrie is undoubtedly a major problem.
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Darvel have scored 22 times in their last 5 games including 5 against League One Montrose and 2/1 with Bet 365 for both teams to score looks an absolute standout bet at Recreation Park.
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