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This Weekend's SPL Games
By Betting Zone February 29 2008
The games are coming thick and fast in the SPL and we could be in for an exciting few months with the title battle looking like it will go to the wire and Gretna's stunning 4-2 win over Kilmarnock breathing life into their bid for survival at the wrong end of the table.
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And it's another must-win for the Black and Whites this weekend when they take on Dundee United at Fir Park.

Two of their four SPL wins have come against United, who have suffered a mini-slump in recent weeks and Gretna know they must take advantage as nearest rivals Killie have a winnable home clash against third-bottom St Mirren.

Now under the charge of the much-travelled Mick Wadsworth, Wednesday night's success arrested a run of five straight defeats in all competitions and they must make it two games unbeaten for the first time this season if they are to have any chance of staying in the top flight.

And the signs are there that they can do just that.

Their form at Fir Park is improving and if you take out their 'home' game against landlords Motherwell as that is essentially another away clash, they have won their last two and the only defeat in their last five came due to Daniel Cousin's late strike for Rangers in mid-January.

For United, they have won one out of seven games since Barry Robson's departure to Celtic and it's a real worry for Craig Levein's men as to where the goals will come from.

They dominated for almost the whole 180 minutes against St Mirren and Falkirk in their last two outings but only have two draws and a barrowload of missed chances to show for their efforts.

They are likely to create plenty of chances against a porous Gretna defence but the Black and Whites have netted nine times in their last four so even if they do concede, that will not faze them.

Wadsworth's men knew the game against Killie was a must-win and they delivered big time, with the scoreline flattering the visitors, and if they perform in the same manner, they can shock United for the third time this season.

A small punt at the generally available 7/2 looks good.

At the top of the table, Hibs take on Celtic in what could be a thrilling encounter.

The champions have won eight on the spin while it's now four successive victories and just one defeat in eight games for new Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen.

Hibs' home form has been particularly impressive, winning four out of five under the Finn and scoring 12 goals in the process.

They have opened the scoring in the first 10 minutes in three of the four home games they have netted in and it was Steven Fletcher's fifth minute strike which sent them on their way to a 3-2 win over the Bhoys earlier in the season.

Hibs' performances have not been the best in recent weeks, that is true, but they are picking up results and showed they can more than match the Old Firm when they were unlucky not to defeat Rangers in their Scottish Cup tie, eventually earning a 0-0 draw and a replay at Ibrox.

Celtic themselves have been far from convincing in their last two, requiring a controversial free-kick with three minutes to go from Shunsuke Nakamura to give them the points against St Mirren at Love Street and they were hanging on a bit at the end of the 2-1 win over Inverness on Wednesday.

The Easter Road playing surface is far from ideal, meaning it will be difficult to play football on it which will not suit Celtic's form player Aiden McGeady.

Hibs like to get the ball on the deck too but they have the added presence of Colin Nish up front and have used the big man well since his move from Kilmarnock in the transfer window.

The challenge for Hibs is to take their chances when they are on top and perform for the whole 90 minutes, something they did not do against Inverness or Aberdeen despite the impressive results.

Paatelainen's side lie fifth in the table, seven points clear of Aberdeen in seventh, so the pressure is off slightly in their bid for a top six place.

With the Saturday lunch-time kick-off, beating Celtic twice in the same season for the first time since 1992/93 would take Hibs to within a point of Motherwell and a UEFA Cup spot for a few hours at least and bearing that in mind, a small punt on a home win in the draw/no bet market looks good value.

A Celtic win would put pressure on Rangers for their home tie with Aberdeen in what should be, on paper, an 11th straight SPL win for Walter Smith's men.

The Gers crushed Hearts 4-0 on Wednesday while the Dons were labouring to an eighth league game without a win in their 1-1 draw against Motherwell.

Jimmy Calderwood's side have conceded 23 goals in their last seven games in all competitions and could be heading for another comprehensive defeat at Ibrox.

Rangers strikers Jean-Claude Darcheville and Nacho Novo both netted doubles in the win over Hearts but with the UEFA Cup tie against German giants Werder Bremen next midweek, Smith may make changes in the forward areas.

And the 11/10 availabe on goal machine Kris Boyd to score anytime looks good when you take that into account.

Boyd has netted in five of his last six appearances at Ibrox, one of them from the bench, and you have to go back to December of last year to find the last time he started at home and failed to score, in the 2-0 win over Hearts.

A criticism often levelled at Boyd in the past was that he did not make an impact coming off the bench but he has scored in two of his last three substitute appearances.

It's not often the chance to back Boyd at odds-against at home is presented, especially against a poor Aberdeen defence, and even if he only comes on for 20 minutes, we still reckon he is well worth a punt.

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By Bettingzone.co.uk
Used with permission.

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