It’s the second weekend of the Scottish Premiership, the first round of fixtures was brilliant, a welcome return to Scottish football and one of our favourite football leagues.

There were some cracking games last week and some huge drama. John Beaton put his hand in his pocket eight times in Livingston’s 1-1 draw with Aberdeen. Rangers were left stunned as they were defeated 1-0 by Kilmarnock. Their bitter rivals Celtic made no mistakes and opened the SPFL 2023/24 campaign in style in a 4-2 win over Ross County. Five cards were dished out in this one.

It’s fair to say, the Scottish referees haven’t been shy with the cards so far. The intensity right from the off has been exceptional, and expect to see a similar level this weekend.

You can also check out our EFL ref stats here, and our English Premier League ref stats here.

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Now, let's take a closer look at the upcoming matches and the referees who will be officiating them:

Rangers v Livingston: Don Robertson referee stats

Ibrox will host Livingston for Rangers’ first home game of the 2023/24 SPFL season. The Gers didn't get off to an ideal start this season, they travelled to Kilmarnock on gameweek one and were beaten by a goal to nil. Rangers controlled the game with 69% possession but they failed to convert their ball retention into goals.

They managed just four attempts on target in a game they really should be winning, especially as their primary target is winning the title. Their opponents Livingston had a brilliant start, they held Aberdeen to a goalless draw and didn’t allow them a single shot on target.

Based on the results from last weekend it looks as if this will be a tough game for both sides and it could get feisty. The main whistle for this one is Don Robertson who will be taking charge of his first SPFL game this season. In 57 appearances he has distributed 207 yellow cards, an average of 3.63 per game. Livingston were shown three cards alone in their opener, whilst Rangers steered clear of the referee's cardbook.

The last time Robertson took charge of Livingston he gave out four cards. Two yellows for Livi and a yellow and red for opponents Dundee United. Whilst Rangers earned just one yellow against the same opponents in his last Ibrox appearance.

Ross County v St. Johnstone: William Collum referee stats

The hosts of this match-up started their campaign in arguably the toughest way possible. They travelled to Celtic Park to face the champions. Nick Walsh wasn’t shy with his yellows, giving out five to Ross County players alone. On the other hand, St’. Johnstone hosted Hearts and were shown two yellows by referee Steve McClean.

Taking charge of this match-up is William Collum, who is making his second appearance of the season. His first outing was Kilmarnock’s win against Rangers and not a single card was shown. This was a bit of a rarity for Collum as he usually averages 3.11 yellow cards per game and 0.22 reds. This time around, we expect him to be opening his card book at least a couple of times, but less than the 4.5 mark.

Aberdeen v Celtic: Kevin Clancy referee stats

Aberdeen v Celtic is the headline act of this weekend’s SPFL action. It’s arguably the biggest game of the season so far. Aberdeen will be looking to get their first victory of the season after being held to a goalless draw by Livingston in their opening match. It was a hugely frustrating day at the office for Barry Robson’s side, this was reflected by the five yellow cards they received.

Life doesn’t get any easier for Aberdeen as they face the champions, Celtic, who won their first game this season against Ross County in what was another card-heavy game. This one has fouls and cards written all over it.

The man adjudicating is Kevin Clancy. This will be his first game of the season and he has a challenge ahead of him. In his SPFL career, Clancy blows for a foul more than 24 times per game on average. He dishes out more than four yellows per game.

We see this one being very foul heavy and we’d recommend looking at over three cards.

Hearts v Kilmarnock: David Dickinson referee stats

Hearts v Kilmarnock looks to be a tasty affair on Sunday. The hosts started their season very well last week with a 2-0 away victory against St. Johnstone. The game wasn’t easy by any means for Hearts, it took them up until the 75th minute mark to break the deadlock, they doubled their lead and confirmed the victory late in stoppage time. It was a card-heavy game with five yellows being shown in total, three for Hearts and two for St. Johnstone.

Kilmarnock will be looking to continue their brilliant start, they beat Rangers on the opening day and Hearts will be just as tough a challenge. Especially away from home.

David Dickinson is in charge of this one, he took the whistle for Dundee’s 1-1 draw against Motherwell last week and two cards were shown to the away side. This is half of his 4.36 average in the Scottish Premiership. The standout statistic for Dickinson is his red card tendency. He averages 0.25 reds per game, which means that on average he sends a player off every four matches. Could we see him reach for the back pocket again this week?

Motherwell v Hibs: Matthew McDermid referee stats

Hibs take a trip to Fir Park for their second SPFL outing of the season. They’ll be hoping to put the heartbreak of last Sunday behind them. After going 2-0 down in the opening 20 against St. Mirren, Hibs fought back and scored two in the last 20 to equalise. When all seemed good the fans were brought back to earth as they conceded a last-minute winner. Four cards were shared equally across the 90’.

Motherwell were held to a draw at Dundee in their opener. A result that was a fair reflection of the game. Just the two cards were shown by Dickinson.

Motherwell v Hibs will be officiated by Matthew McDermid, one of the lesser experienced referees in the SPFL roster. He has held the whistle for just 11 matches and given out 44 yellow cards. A perfect average of four per game. However, the most common card volume he distributes is three. Over 3 cards is a decent bet.

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