MOTHERWELL play their second Viaplay Cup game away from home on Tuesday when they travel down to Dumfries to face Queen of the South.
Stuart Kettlewell's side got their new campaign off to a decent and professional start with a bloodless 2-0 win at Borough Briggs against Elgin City.
That was their first taste of life without Kevin van Veen and they would probably have scored a few more if the big Dutchman was in Moray, but they had to settle for a goal in each half in a comfortable successs.
Next up is Marvin Bartley's League One side. Queen's finished last season with plenty of promise and this will be the former Hibs and Livingston midfielder's first full season in charge.
He's brought in nine players this summer with a couple of loan signings from his former club in Leith – Murray Johnson and Kyle McClelland.
They lost at Livingston and beat Gretna 2008 in their pre-season friendlies so far and this is their first competitive game of the season after finishing in mid-table last term in the third tier.
The Doonhamers are fourth favourites to win League One this season.
How the bookies view it
Motherwell are strong odds-on favourites to win this at 13/20 with McBookie.com. The home side can be backed at 17/5 with William Hill. The draw is 3/1 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
The last three meetings between the sides have all come in the League Cup and Well have won them all. In fact, you have to go back to 1980 for Queen of the South's last success in this fixture which was in the Scottish Cup.
Players to watch
Queen of the South have lost last season's top scorer Ruari Paton to Queen's Park so the onus will be on far-travelled striker Gavin Reilly to step up this season.
Jon Obika was signed permanently to replace van Veen for Motherwell after a loan spell and he didn't do his cause any harm with a goal at Elgin.
Anything else catch the eye?
Motherwell should have enough in the tank here to get past a rusty Queen of the South, who don't appear to have had too much match practice this summer.
The Steelmen are too short to back on their own, but they can win this half time and full time – as they did at Elgin – at 8/5 with bet365.
There wasn't a huge amount of goals in the opening games in the Viaplay Cup and this could continue the trend. If Well could only score two at a poor Elgin City side, then it's hard to see them goal crazy in Dumfries either. Go for under 2.5 goals here at 13/10 with BetVictor.
This Scottish League Cup match between Queen of the South and Motherwell will be played on Jul 18, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Queen of the South vs Motherwell prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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