Dundee v Partick Thistle (Championship)

Dundee might not have had the toughest of League Cup groups, but they negotiated it in impressive style and will come into the opening match of the league campaign against Partick Thistle with some degree of confidence.

New manager Gary Bowyer appears to have instilled an attack-minded philosophy in his side, and that was manifest by 12 goals in just four matches. Interestingly, two of these were against Championship rivals, ending in a 3-0 home win against Hamilton and a 2-1 away success versus Queen’s Park. It should set the team up well for the season ahead.

Certainly, there is no shortage of attacking quality in this Dundee side. Striker Alex Jakubiak is already up to four goals for the season, Niall McGinn and Lyall Cameron have both bagged a couple while playmaker Paul McGowan has already chalked up a trio of assists.

Partick, meanwhile, should also be a side in high spirits after a League Cup campaign in which two of their four games produced more than 2.5 goals. Last weekend, they swept past League One side Montrose 4-2 without any difficulty to seal a place in the last 16 of the competition. It was a game that showed they are both capable offensively but can be lacking at the back.

Thistle might typically have been low scorers last season, but that was often at home due to the wretched state of their pitch. Indeed, their 18 away matches last season produced 56 goals. Expect plenty of action in this season opener.

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Inverness v Queen’s Park (Championship)

Queen’s Park had a reputation as being a dour low-scoring side in League One last season, but there are signs that could be about to change as they step up a level into the Championship. They are a side well equipped to do so given their full-time status and financial backing, while they have appointed experienced manager Owen Coyle to look after first-team affairs.

Coyle had little impact late last season, but over the course of the summer, it appears that the Hampden club will be altogether more entertaining this season. Indeed, three of their four League Cup group stage matches produced at least three goals, while the other ended in a 1-1 draw against Hamilton. This is a far cry from a side that was previously prone to drawing 1-1, often sitting back after taking the lead in games.

Similarly, Inverness picked up a head of steam in the League Cup and qualified comfortably out of Group G, doing so undefeated. Two of their four fixtures ended with three of more goals, including a 2-1 victory away against Premiership side Livingston and a 4-0 home success against Albion Rovers.

Moreover, ICT’s home games last season produced no shortage of action. Their 18 fixtures saw the ball hit the net 47 times at a rate to close to three-per-match on average. With the bookies pricing over 2.5 goals in this game comfortably odds against, there is value in backing this outcome, given the League Cup form of this pair and the fact that ICT were the league’s second top scorer at home last term.

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Falkirk v Montrose (League One)

Falkirk were one of the surprise packages in the League Cup, as they negotiated their four matches undefeated, winning two on penalties. Their two home fixtures, meanwhile, they won 1-0 against Premiership Hibs and League One rivals Clyde.

After missing out on the playoffs last season, an overhaul has been conducted of the squad and management staff in the summer, with new boss John McGlynn getting off to an excellent start. They have been extremely difficult to breakdown and have conceded only one goal in four matches – this despite missing first-choice centre-backs due to injury. They should have greater strength in this area at the weekend, though.

Montrose, meanwhile, were terrible in the League Cup. After recording a win over Fraserburgh, they lost their subsequent three matches. Defensively, they have been woeful, conceding at least two goals in every game, while they lost lynchpin defender Sean Dillon to injury last weekend and Matty Allan is also a doubt in the heart of their rearguard.

The visitors have also been dogged by off-field difficulties this week too. Striker Craig Johnston and midfielder Liam Callaghan have both pleaded guilty to assault in a Dublin court, with sentencing to take place next year. Their status ahead of this match is unlikely to be made clear by the club, but it would be little surprise to see them miss out.

Although Montrose have made a trio of loan signings this week and have a strong historical record against Falkirk, winning the last three against them, they start the new season a diminished force and the odds on the home team look too strong to overlook.

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Peterhead v Airdrie (League One)

With a genuine incentive to win this game, look for Airdrie to triumph.

Peterhead had arguably the poorest League Cup campaign of any team in the competition. They were seeded third in Group A but finished dead last, losing all four games and failing to score a single goal. They were beaten by League Two sides Dumbarton and Stirling Albion along the way, losing 3-0 to the Binos away from home last weekend. In total, they conceded 13 times. It is no way to kick off a season.

Injury issues and a lack of players were one explanation for Peterhead’s poor start to the campaign, and though they have remedied the latter by making some signings, on the evidence of last weekend’s game, these will take some time to make an impact.

Meanwhile, manager Jim McInally will need to plod along without key players Hamish Ritchie and Russell McLean, who are both set to be sidelined for significant periods due to surgery. Furthermore, Jason Brown appears highly unlikely to take part in this game after suffering a concussion last weekend. On the plus side, a couple of regulars come back from bans, but it will take more than that to lift the mood.

Conversely, Airdrie won two of their three matches, including 2-0 against Premiership St Mirren. Their squad is in good nick and has been bolstered by loan signings Lewis Jamieson from St Mirren and Ben Wylie from Celtic this week. Furthermore, they won three of the four matches they played against Peterhead last season and have won seven of the last nine overall against this opponent.

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Dumbarton v Stirling Albion (League Two)

Stirling defied expectations in the League Cup by having a strong campaign that saw them pick up a couple of victories, including a 2-1 success over Dumbarton on the opening weekend of the competition. Having not played each other competitively for more than a decade, this will be an exact repeat of that match, in which the home side were totally outplayed and mustered only two shots on target, one of which came from a defensive error.

Stirling backed that result up well. They stunned Championship side Raith Rovers by winning on penalties after a hard-fought 1-1 draw, and though they lost 5-0 to Aberdeen at home, that was an unflattering outcome. Darren Young’s men then bounced back with an easy 3-0 win over Peterhead.

Dumbarton, by contrast, only beat Peterhead but did draw with Raith Rovers over 90 minutes before losing on penalties. There was an improvement compared to their opening-day performance, though.

In terms of injury news, the home side remain depleted defensively, with Ross McGeever not ready to return and Edin Lynch sidelined. Gregor Buchanan looks good to return along with Ryan Wallace, though. The Binos have some midfield worries, with Jack Leitch a doubt along with Ross Davidson, who has yet to play for them since arriving in the summer, but the arrival of Harrison Clark on loan from Livingston is seen as a major boon.

Stirling’s League Cup performances and the comfortable nature of their win against the Sons at this venue mean they deserve more respect than their price of 3.3 suggests. Backing them via a handicap or a draw no bet looks good value.

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Stenhousemuir v Albion Rovers (League Two)

Stenhousemuir should be one of the strongest sides in League Two this season. They have recruited well in the summer months and have not lost anyone that they might have considered to be essential to their starting XI. This has been reflected in results, with the Warriors producing a solid League Cup campaign in which they beat Fraserburgh and Montrose. They also gave Partick a scare and (briefly) worried Kilmarnock.

On Saturday, they start their league campaign with a manageable home fixture against Albion Rovers. The Coatbridge side are an opponent they boast a strong record against. They have won six of their last eight managers against the Wee Rovers, including all of their last three. In their home fixtures against this opponent last term, they picked up two comfortable wins: 3-1 and 4-1.

Interestingly, this is a fixture that had a tendency for goals last term, with each of the four producing at least three goals, and three of the matches ending with four or more strikes. Both teams scored in all of these encounters.

Albion Rovers, meanwhile, performed above expectations in the League Cup, although they lost three of four of their fixtures. Certainly, they benefitted from their difficult pitch to keep Livingston and Cove Rangers close in their home games but did record a massive shock away win over Kelty before folding against Inverness.

Despite these results, they have lost several of their better players from last season, including starting forwards Declan Byrne and Kyle Doherty, so maintaining this early momentum will be difficult, particularly in attack, where they have yet to add a forward of note.

At close to evens, Stenhousemuir look like very good value.

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St Mirren v Motherwell (Premiership)

The league is yet to kick off, but it’s already been a terrible start to the season for both St Mirren and Motherwell, who have been knocked out of competitions they were expected to advance in. The Paisley Saints were embarrassingly eliminated from the League Cup, beaten at home by Championship side Arbroath then away to League One outfit Airdrie in the group stage. Motherwell, meanwhile, suffered a huge low as they were beaten by Sligo Rovers in the Europa League qualifying stage.

In common with a poor start to the season, these clubs have both shown an incapability of scoring. St Mirren got five in four League Cup games, netting two against Lowland League Cowdenbeath then three at home against FC Edinburgh of League One last weekend. When they have been faced with more competitive opponents, though, they have come up with nothing. Equally, Motherwell failed to score in two matches against their Irish opponents. This is a game that neither side will be approaching with any offensive confidence.

Historically, this is a tight fixture, too. Although Motherwell won the last meeting of the clubs 4-2 in April, prior to that only one of their previous six league meetings had produced more than two goals. This has been pronounced at New St Mirren Park, where the last four have all ended in 1-1 or 0-0 draws.

Motherwell scored only 42 goals in 38 games last season, the lowest of the top six, and have done little this summer to remedy that issue, while St Mirren were the second lowest scorers in the league on 33 goals. New signing Jonah Ayunga has hit the ground running for the Buddies, scoring four in four in the League Cup, but no one else is showing any sign of finding the net – and that is against considerably poorer opponents than they will face on Saturday.

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