Fierce rivals Dunfermline and Falkirk will meet in the first of this weekend’s two Scottish Cup semi-final ties at Hampden. As the Scottish Premiership side, Falkirk are firm favourites to progress, but I don't think it will be as straightforward as the pre-match odds suggest. As such, backing both teams to score holds plenty of appeal.

While Falkirk have rightly earned plenty of praise for punching above their weight in the Scottish Premiership this season, they have found clean sheets difficult to come by, with their backline being breached at least once in 11 of their last 12 league matches. Moreover, both teams have scored in six of the Bairns’ last seven league games, the most recent of which was a barnstorming 6-3 defeat to Rangers last Sunday.

Therefore, John McGlynn’s side could struggle to silence a Dunfermline side that has already seen off both Hibernian and Aberdeen en route to this Hampden semi-final. The case for siding with this selection is further strengthened by the fact that there have been goals at both ends in three of the Pars’ last five Scottish Championship away matches, with each of those three fixtures also featuring over 3.5 goals.

Celtic and St Mirren faced each other in the Scottish Premiership just last weekend, with the Hoops claiming a narrow 1-0 victory at Parkhead, and a similarly low-key success could well be on the cards once again at Hampden.

More often than not, across Martin O’Neill’s two spells in charge this season, Celtic have been getting the job done in solid rather than spectacular fashion. In fact, five of Celtic’s last six Scottish Premiership victories have come by a single-goal margin, including that aforementioned win over St Mirren.

The Saints have shown signs of life since Stephen Robinson departed for Aberdeen, with Craig McLeish overseeing wins against both Falkirk and Aberdeen prior to last weekend’s defeat to Celtic. The Paisley outfit should, therefore, be capable of keeping this semi-final competitive, but I suspect Celtic’s superior quality will tell, as it has done in each of the previous three top-flight meetings between the pair this season. What’s more, the Hoops will also be mindful of the fact they lost the Scottish League Cup final to St Mirren at Hampden during Wilfried Nancy’s short and ill-fated reign earlier in the campaign, so they are unlikely to take anything for granted on Sunday.