Weekend Scottish Football Tips: A 4/1 Saturday Acca

Scottish Cup Fourth Round ties dominate our thinking this weekend as the Premiership teams return from a winter break to join the fold. Betfred’s Frank Monkhouse picks four worth following on Saturday.

St Johnstone beat Airdrie @ 19/20

Round four of the Scottish Cup throws up some interesting ties, and we begin at The Excelsior Stadium, where Championship side Airdrie hosts Premiership opponents St Johnstone in what’s sure to be a tense 90 minutes.

Saturday’s game is the first meeting of these sides since they shared Division One in 2009, the Saints winning 4-0 on the road that day. We expect something similar in this renewal.

St Johnstone is a team from the tier above and enter on the back of a few weeks off, thanks to the Premiership winter break. Airdrie will aim to catch their opponents early, but I’m confident Craig Levein’s team will get the job done, pulling rank on the Diamonds. Add the visitors to your bet slip to get things moving.

Hibs beat Forfar @ 1/7

We move to the first of an Edinburgh double-header by taking Hibs to defeat Forfar on the road. The Hibees are a top-six team from the Premiership but have endured their fair share of problems of late, entering the winter break following two defeats and a draw.

Everyone connected to Easter Road knows much better is expected when the Premiership returns and this cup game is the ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways.

Forfar enjoys the home advantage for this game, but they play in Scottish League Two, and the gulf in class between the sides will show early in this contest.

This is a big day for the home team, and that’ll help create a traditional Scottish Cup tie atmosphere inside the ground. But Hibs will show their class and get their name in the hat for the Fifth Round.

Hearts beat Spartans @ 1/4

Staying with the clubs from the capital, we’re putting our trust in Hearts to do what’s expected against the minnows of The Spartans.

The Jambos are the away team, and that comes with its challenges in this competition, but they have a much better, stronger, and bigger squad than their part-time opponents.

This is an opportunity for Steven Naismith’s troops to put the finishing touches to their preparations for a return to Premiership action, so I expect the Jam Tarts to send a strong starting 11 into this game.

The Spartans are a League Two side pushing for promotion, and that confidence will ensure they put up a fight, especially in the early exchanges. The home team will be cheered on by decent support, but Hearts will weather the storm and get the win needed to progress.

Kilmarnock beat Dundee @ Evens

The game of the day from this weekend’s Scottish Cup ties pairs Kilmarnock and Dundee at Rugby Park. Kilmarnock is improving under new manager Derek McInnes, winning two and drawing two of their last five.

That purple patch lifted Killie to fourth in the league, within touching distance of third-placed Hearts, and they’ll be eager to get back to playing Premiership football. Back Kilmarnock to make the home advantage count.

Dundee travel for this cup game sitting seventh in the Premiership, but they’ve managed to win only one of their last five league starts and have collected just five wins all season.

Both teams have scored in each of the last eight renewals of this fixture, with the previous couple ending in 2-2 draws. I expect another entertaining game, but with Kilmarnock doing enough to keep their cup dreams alive.

Frank Monkhouse covers Scottish Football for us here at Betfred Insights. You can check out all of his work along with that of the rest of our Football Betting Tips desk on our main Football page...