IT'S a three-way battle at the bottom of the Scottish Championship and two of the clubs involved in a relegation dogfight meet on Friday when Hamilton Accies host Arbroath.
Arbroath are currently bottom of the league but they are only a point behind Accies and three behind Cove Rangers. Bottom placed will be relegated and second place go into the play-offs to survive.
Arbroath have had a curious season. They gained plaudits and publicity last season after coming within moments of winning promotion to the Premiership when they were a goal up at Kilmarnock on the final game of the season before losing two goals in the past 12 minutes to blow automatic promotion.
That and their subsequent play-off defeats appears to have knocked the wind out of them and they have been poor this term, In fact their last win at home at what used to be their Gayfield fortress was against Hamilton back in October.
However, they are much better away from Angus and actually fifth in the table on way form.
Accies have also been poor at home with only three league wins at New Douglas Park this term in the league, but John Rankin's side collected home and away wins over Inverness recently before being turned over by Queen's Park last week at home.
How the bookies view it
Hamilton are narrow favourites here at 6/4 with Betfred. Arbroath can be backed at 7/4 with McBookie.com. The draw is 11/5 with Paddy Power.
Recent head to heads
The clubs have met twice this season and it's been a 1-0 home win apiece on both occasions.
Players to watch
Hearts loanee Connor Smith scored in three games in a row there and also takes the Accies penalties. He is 4/1 to score anytime with bet365.
St Mirren sent Nigerian wide man Toyosi Olusanya to Gayfield this season and the former Middlesbrough man netted his first goal for the Red Lichties the other week at Cove Rangers. He is 15/8 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's very hard to make a solid case for a definitive winner here and a draw could very well be the outcome in a game where neither side would view a stalemate as a disaster.
No team in the league have drawn more than Arbroath and they could easily add to the 11 times they have shared the points on Friday.
It's unlikely to be a classic either and there's a reason why these pair are bottom of the league both in points and goals scored. Go for bet365's under 2.5 goals at 17/20.
This Scottish Championship match between Hamilton Accies and Arbroath will be played on Mar 3, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Hamilton Accies vs Arbroath prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
