DUNDEE UNITED travel to Station Park on Friday night to face League One outfit Forfar Athletic in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
Micky Mellon's men arrive in Angus in fine fettle, having won their last three matches across all competitions and avoiding defeat in each of their last five fixtures.
Last time out, the Tannadice outfit nudged Hamilton Accies closer to the Scottish Premiership trapdoor with a hard-fought 1-0 at the Fountain of Youth Stadium.
Mellon and Co will now turn their attention towards the Scottish Cup, a competition they have won twice but not since 2010.
Forfar, meanwhile, have struggled for form this season and the Loons currently prop up the League One table having won just two of their 17 league games to date.
That wretched run of results led to Stuart Malcolm resigning last week, with former Aberdeen assistant manager Tony Docherty agreeing to step in to assist player-manager Gary Irvine until the end of the season.
Outright Betting
Forfar have failed to win nine of their last 10 Scottish Cup ties and the bookies odds suggest that trend is set to continue with the hosts huge outsiders here at 11/1 with William Hill, with the draw also deemed unlikely at 5/1 with Betfred.
Dundee United are red-hot favourites at 2/7 with Boylesports to seal their passage to the quarter-final stages on Friday night.
Betting Angles
The bookmaker's prices for this match unsurprisingly suggest that this will be a one-sided affair but backing the visitors to overcome a -1.5 start on the asian handicap could be the way to go at 41/50 with BetVictor.
Here we would require Dundee United to win the game by a two goal winning-margin or more, a handicap that both Airdrie and Clyde have overcome during recent meetings with relegation-threatened Forfar.
What's more, this fixture will represent Forfar's fourth outing in eight days and I fancy full-time Dundee United to take advantage of the hosts heavy schedule.
As already alluded to, United have won each of their last three fixtures and I suspect they will have too much firepower for semi-professional Forfar on Friday night.
With that in mind, coupled with the fact that Forfar have failed to register a clean sheet across their last seven matches, I'll happily back Dundee United with a -1.5 start on the asian handicap this weekend.
I'll also dip into the total team goals market and take the 21/20 on offer with William Hill for Dundee United to score three or more goals on Friday night.
Indeed, you wouldn't necessarily associate Dundee United with scoring goals, but given that they will be coming up against a side who sit 25 places below them in the Scottish pyramid, I'm prepared to have a punt on three or more United strikes at Station Park.
The leaky Loons have conceded three goals in two of their last three matches and I reckon a repeat here represents a bit of value when the top-tier Terrors come to town in the Scottish Cup.
This Scottish Cup match between Forfar Athletic and Dundee United will be played on Apr 16, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Forfar Athletic vs Dundee United prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
