Scottish football is back after a midweek of exciting European football and I’ve picked out my accumulator which has come out at a very nice 6/1. We’ve got action from the Scottish Premiership and Leagues One and Two. Where better to start than at the very top of the Premiership and Hibs.

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Hibs v Livingston

Hibs had been looking like they’d made the perfect start to the new Scottish Premiership season and sitting on nine point from nine but a late Paul McGowan goal at Dens last weekend means Jack Ross’ men sit on seven points but still atop the Premiership standings. They should continue their unbeaten start with Livi travelling to Easter Road this time around.

Hibs managed to score twice away from home in front of a raucous Dundee crowd without their star man and chief goal getter Kevin Nisbet last weekend. The striker missed out with an illness but Ross expects him to return to face Livi and slot straight into a side packed with attacking talent. Jamie Murphy, James Scott, Kyle Magennis and Martin Boyle is one hell of a supporting cast for Nisbet’s considerable abilities.

With no European football now, Hibs have had the week to prepare for this one, unlike the sides they’ll be competing with for the top spots this season, and making a fast start with that advantage would be hugely beneficial. Particularly with their likely nearest rivals, Hearts and Aberdeen, matching their points total over the opening few weeks of the campaign. One side who haven’t had such a strong start is Livingston, with David Martindale’s side propping up the table and pointless.

Livi have tailed off quite dramatically since the turn of the year and their poor start this campaign really wasn’t much of a surprise. They look far from the team that impressed in the Premiership over the past few seasons and you do worry for them and where the quality is in their squad, unlike their opponents.

Joe Newell and Paul Hanlon could return for Hibs for this one, but even if they aren’t quite ready for the visit of Livingston, their team mates should have more than enough to get back to winning ways against a side who look set for a long season at the foot of the table.

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Airdrie v Alloa

Both of these sides will have ambitions of making the Play-Offs come the end of the season, with Airdrie hopeful of going one better than last year’s loss to Morton in the Championship final and Alloa dropping down from the second tier yet retaining a lot of their talent. It should mean they’re both more than capable of pushing up the table, and causing each other problems in this one.

Each of Airdrie’s four games have seen at least three goals, with all but one ending with both sides troubling the scoring. Ian Murray’s men look a side well set for goals betting this season as the way he sets his side up offers a lot going forward, though his defence doesn’t get the highest level of security.

Gabby McGill looks to have found his feet at senior level having scored in each of his last three games, while adding an assist too, all while playing out wide. The 20-year-old is more than capable of leading the line but the added bonus of him contributing from a wide role will help ease the burden on Callum Gallagher and Rhys McCabe.

Both sides have scored in three of Alloa’s four ties this season in what has been an underwhelming start for new boss Barry Ferguson. Scott Boyd is their danger man and the former Hamilton has always had considerable potential but looks like he could be realising that this season and is on course for his best scoring campaign of his young career.

There’s a lot of attacking talent on display at the Excelsior and with both sides keen to make up for slow starts to the League One season both will go for the win which should facilitate both sides getting their fair share of chances to score.

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Forfar v Stranraer

I spoke of Forfar at the beginning of the week on Twitter on how their price was too big and right enough they have come well in to beat Stranraer. They were 1.95 on Monday morning and have crunched into 1.8 at the time of writing, and they still look good value for the win this weekend.

They were relegated from the third tier last season but have adapted to League Two admirably, winning their opening two games fairly comfortably after a decent showing in the League Cup group stages. They’ve followed it up with draws at League Two’s traditional ‘Hard Place To Go’ Elgin and the supremely talented Kelty Hearts (spoiler: more on them shortly). They’re the only side to take points off Kelty so far which suggests they should be good for a Play-Off berth come May, if not running Kelty close for top spot.

They were a wee bit unlucky to not get all three points at Elgin at the weekend but they shouldn’t have to play much better to get at a result this time around against a Stranraer side that is a bit of a mess right now. New manager Jamie Hamill isn’t coping too well in his first job in management and there are concerns, already, that Stranraer could go the same way as Brechin and drop out of the SPFL come May.

They’ve lost the vast majority of the talent and the manager from last season’s squad that managed to sneak into the top four, and it’s really starting to show. It could be telling how far they’ve slid this weekend, with Forfar capable of putting a few past them.

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Stenhousemuir v Kelty Hearts

Well, this is getting a bit awkward now isn’t it? I’m not even sure I need to write why I’m backing Kelty anymore. It was the same with the likes of Rangers and Queen’s Park last season in that Kelty are just levels above the vast majority of competitors in their division. Yes, they may have Forfar looking like their closest rivals, but outside of that there’s little reason to worry about Kelty at all.

They should be able come away from Ochilview with all three points and little fuss this weekend. Stenny have started the campaign poorly, with their only victory across league and cup coming against a Dumbarton side that was able to name just three players on the bench in their opening fixture of the League Cup groups.

Kelty on the other hand continue to impress with the goals being shared around the side, as Jamie Barjonas got his first goal for his new side in the win over Edinburgh City last weekend. He’s just one of many in the Kelty squad that are too good to be playing in League Two. Compare and contrast this to the Stenny side that look set for a relegation battle and you can understand why I’m once again fairly bullish on Kelty this weekend.

Read my latest Scottish Accumulator here.

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18+ please gamble responsibly. All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.

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