It’s part three of the Premiership derby trilogy tomorrow as Dundee make the short walk to Tannadice to face city rivals United.
These teams haven’t faced off in the top flight since the Dark Blues relegated United at Dens in 2016, with Craig Wighton sealing a 2-1 victory right at the death. So it’s a revenge mission for the Tangerines – even though they bossed the derby when these teams were both in the second tier back in 2019.
United won two of those three games in the Championship, including a 6-2 thrashing at Tannadice, but it ended 1-1 when the teams last faced off. The Glasgow and Edinburgh derbies earlier in this campaign were decent games but neither delivered much in the way of goalmouth action.
A single strike won it for Rangers at Ibrox against Celtic then Hearts and Hibs ground out a 0-0 Tynecastle draw, But I have a feeling the Dundee dust-up will be a bit more open so I’m backing both teams to score at evens (Mansionbet).
Aggro was pretty thin on the ground in the other two derbies as well, with just four yellows across the two games. But some fiery characters will be on the Tannadice pitch tomorrow so ref John Beaton could have a busy afternoon.
Leigh Griffiths is one of them and the Dundee new boy is 2/1 with McBookie to be carded while United stopper Charlie Mulgrew also appeals at 5/2.
Backing the half-time draw paid off for me at Tynecastle last weekend and that bet pays 17/16 with SBK.
Celtic and Rangers are both in action tomorrow after gruelling Europa League defeats on Thursday night.
The Hoops have the tougher game away to Livingston as they have failed to win on their last four visits to the Tony Macaroni.
Something about Livi’s plastic pitch seems to make Celtic continuously slip up but they can’t afford to lose more ground in the title race. Goals look guaranteed due to Ange Postecoglou’s high-risk football and it has ended 2-2 on the Parkhead side’s last two visits to West Lothian.
So BTTS stands a chance at 10/11 with SBK while over 3.5 goals could also come up at 9/5 with McBookie. Josip Juranovic scored from the spot for Celtic in the loss to Real Betis and it looks like he is on penalties for the foreseeable. That makes the Croatian full-back a great shout for anytime scorer at a whopping 14/1 with Paddy Power.
Rangers were well beaten by Lyon at Ibrox on Thursday and the loss of Ryan Kent is a further blow for Steven Gerrard. In-form Motherwell comes calling tomorrow and it could be a tough one for Gers. The champions should still have enough to claim another win but Well +2 pays evens at SkyBet in the handicaps and that might be worth a look.
I’d expect Kemar Roofe to start for Gers after coming off the bench on Thursday and the striker is 59/50 at Unibet for a goal that looks good value.
The Edinburgh sides have the chance to jump above Rangers at the summit today and Hibs are McBookie’s 13/20 favourites to see off St Mirren in the capital.
The Buddies have been underachievers so far but I fancy them to score at Easter Road so BTTS looks the shout here at 21/20 with Mansionbet.
Hearts face the long trek north to face Ross County and I’m tipping Ben Woodburn for a goal at 5/2 (Paddy Power) after he impressed in the derby.
Aberdeen host St Johnstone in a fixture that has been dull in recent seasons so I’m betting against BTTS at 5/7 with SBK.
I'm a sports journalist, football tipster and author from Dundee, who is now working in Glasgow. I've covered games at every level, from Junior football to internationals, and still love football even though it has clearly sold its soul. I've been in football tipping since 2018 with the MFT site.
