Falkirk will look to make it two wins from two in Group A as they travel to Balmoral Stadium to take on League 1 side Falkirk on Saturday afternoon.
John McGlynn’s men made a perfect start to their league campaign, as they thrashed Highland League side Brechin City last Saturday on an afternoon two of my selections landed.
A Dylan Tait hat-trick, Scott Arfield brace and goals from Alfie Agyeman and Ross Maclver mean that Falkirk sit top of Group A on goal difference despite playing a game fewer than three of the sides.
The other side in Group A to have only played once is Cove Rangers, as they began their campaign with a game at home to League 2 side Spartans.
A goal after just five minutes from Declan Glass was enough to give Paul Hartley’s men all three points against Spartans, but they will be well aware that they face a far tougher test on Saturday against The Bairns.
How the bookies view it: Bairns backed to claim all three points
Unsurprisingly, Falkirk come into this clash as clear favourites to claim all three points, with BoyleSports pricing them at just 2/9 to make it two wins from two.
A shock victory for Cove Rangers is 15/2 with the same firm, whilst the draw is 9/2.
Head to head: Four in a row for Falkirk?
These two sides last crossed paths in the 2023/24 season when Falkirk cruised to the League 1 title.
The opening game between the pair that season finished 2-2 at Balmoral, but Falkirk won the next three, scoring 10 goals in the process (4-0, 0-1 & 5-1).
Players to watch: Tait to find the target again?
As already mentioned, Dylan Tait fired in a hat-trick against Brechin City last weekend, and is certainly worth a punt to get on the scoresheet once prices become available.
I highlighted Scotty Arfield to score last week, and he subsequently did so, opening the scoring after just 18 minutes, before grabbing another from the spot 17 minutes later. The ex-Rangers man also scored the only goal in their 1-0 friendly victory at St Johnstone the Tuesday before, and also appeals to me to get on the scoresheet here.
Predicted line-ups:
Paul Hartley will be expected to go with a similar side to the one that started their victory over Spartans, with Mitch Megginson expected to lead the line.
Falkirk are expected to name a similar starting 11 to the one that dismantled Brechin at the weekend.
Cove Rangers: Mutch, Bisland, Doyle, Strachan, Megginson, Glass, Ochmanski, Darge, Eguaibor, Fyvie, Parker
Falkirk: Hogarth, Adams, Henderson, Graham, Spencer, Agyeman, Neilson, Tait, Mackie, Miller, Arfield
Anything else catch the eye?
Falkirk were utterly dominant in their group opener at Brechin, hitting the Highland League side for seven goals.
Whilst I don’t expect it to be as easy against Cove, I still expect the Bairns to have too much firepower for the League 1 side, and I like the look of them to score 3+ goals, which pays 4/5 at BoyleSports.
The bookies are slow in releasing goal-scorer markets, once again, but I do like the look of both Scott Arfield and Dylan Tait to find the target in Aberdeen on Saturday.
Will update both goal scorer selections once markets are eventually released.
GambleAware