Celtic will be hard-pushed to claim a big win against Ross County in Dingwall in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, with a variety of factors suggesting that Brendan Rodgers’ side could find this an awkward trip.

First up, Celtic had a hard match against Dundee United on Wednesday that was not settled until late in the game. While they were working hard to pick up the victory, Ross County were resting up with the luxury of a free midweek.

On top of this, the weather conditions promise to be difficult. The forecast is for sub-zero temperatures, which are unlikely to favour the visiting side at a ground that is open and exposed to the elements.

Finally, there’s also the fact that the Staggies are in very decent form – the best they have shown this season. They have picked up 10 points from their last 3 matches, while their home record is commendable given their position well down the league standings. They have lost just 4 times at Victoria Park this season and only once more than a single goal.

Celtic struggled to a 2-1 victory last time they were in Dingwall and they are unlikely to enjoy this trip too much either. Even if the Hoops are expected to get the win, it would be surprising if it were emphatic.

Goals have been a regular feature of the games played by in-form Hibs lately, and that trend is likely to continue when they host Motherwell on Saturday.

The Well come into this game off the back of successive clean sheets against Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, yet they rode their luck at times against the 10-man Dons and also benefitted from Killie passing up 1.26xG in their midweek clash.

Coming into this encounter fatigued against a Hibs side that is in its best form of the season is a dangerous position to be in.

The Edinburgh club scored 3 against Rangers last weekend while they have managed to net 3 times in 5 of their last 9 matches, including once against the Steelmen. The only time they have been shutout in that run was away to Celtic. Equally, they don’t regularly do clean sheets. They only have 3 this season.

Both previous occasions these teams have played, there have been 3 goals, and the trend is unlikely to be bucked here given Hibs’ scoring habits and tendency to concede.

Dunfermline and Ayr square off at East End Park in the Scottish Championship on Saturday afternoon. Four points from six under caretaker manager John McLaughlan has boosted Dunfermline’s hopes of finishing outside of the bottom two. As for Ayr, they moved within four points of league leaders Falkirk with a 3-0 win over Raith Rovers last weekend.

While Scott Brown’s side are fair favourites here, Dunfermline’s mini-revival makes them worthy of support to score at least once on Saturday. The Pars played out a 3-3 thriller with Scottish Championship pacesetters Falkirk in their previous home game, meaning that they have made the net bulge in four of their last five in Fife. They have since produced their best performance of the season by winning 4-1 away at Partick Thistle. Thus, Dunfermline look well placed to deliver a minimum of one strike against Ayr on Saturday.

While the Honest Men have been going great guns of late, they have found clean sheets hard to come by on their travels. In fact, Brown’s side have failed to silence their opponents in six of their last eight league games away from Somerset Park – one of which was against Dunfermline earlier in the season.

Falkirk will resume their automatic promotion push with a home game against Queen’s Park in the Scottish Championship on Saturday. The Bairns will be looking to get back on track after conceding a late equaliser when drawing 3-3 with rivals Dunfermline last time out. They will be coming up against a Queen’s Park side that snapped a three-game losing run with a 2-0 win over Livingston last weekend.

John McGlynn’s side defeated Queen’s Park 2-1 at the Falkirk Stadium on the opening weekend of the campaign and they look well placed to score twice against them again on Saturday. No team has scored more goals than Falkirk in the Scottish Championship this season, with the league leaders hitting the back of the net 37 times across their opening 19 league games of the campaign. Moreover, the Bairns have struck multiple times in a league-high 13 of their 19 second tier tussles this term, including seven of their nine home games.

That doesn’t bode well for a Queen’s Park team that have failed to file a clean sheet in eight of their 10 Scottish Championship road matches this season, shipping 2+ goals in each of their last three away days.

East Fife’s home encounter with Clyde has the capacity to be an exciting match, with the visitors coming into some form under the guidance of Darren Young.

Clyde are undefeated in their last 3 matches, and while these games have all produced 2 goals, they have shown a tendency to be involved in more exciting games against the league’s leading sides. For example, their previous fixture against East Fife was claiming by a 3-1 margin in November.

Indeed, the Bully Wee have scored 2 or more goals in 6 of their last 7 League Two matches, pointing to them finding the net in Methil.

East Fife, meanwhile, come into this game as the division’s top scorers with 40 goals in 20 games. They are fresh from netting a 4-2 victory over Edinburgh City away from home on Wednesday that underlined their offensive strength but also the fact that they can be breached at the back.

The Fifers’ games this season have produced a total of 60 goals, while Clyde’s have yielded 55. This makes them the two most exciting teams in the league (Clyde are joint second with Stirling Albion). Expect this match to reflect that fact.

Edinburgh City remain a team that is undervalued by the bookmakers, and Saturday’s home clash against Peterhead is no such exception, with Michael McIndoe’s side better value than advertised to take a least a point from this encounter.

The Citizens, for example, ran league leaders East Fife close on Wednesday. Although they were ultimately beaten 4-2, the goals that defeated them game in the closing 10 minutes of the game.

Once again, meanwhile, it was Connor Young who was Edinburgh’s talisman as the league’s leading scorer notched two goals. If they lose him during the transfer window, their situation will change dramatically despite the arrival of Tiwi Daramola to the club.

The midweek loss was just a second in the league in 9 matches, of which they have won 6, including a thrilling 3-2 win over Peterhead in November.

The Blue Toon lie only 3 point better off than their hosts, while their strength has been playing at home. On the road, they have won only 3 of 9 games, with 2 of these victories coming in August. They may have won handily on their last visit to the Meadowbank back then, but the form of Edinburgh has taken a major uptick.