Tuesday 24 November 2009

Man Utd v Besiktas, Wednesday 25th November

My Thoughts

This must surely be the most eagerly-anticipated game that has ever been written up on this here blog. Not just for the match itself (already-qualified Man Utd face almost-out Besiktas), but because this game is the centrepoint of Shifty and Graeme's Big Blog Adventure, which will see this here blog's intrepid pundits take in this match (preceded by a big sit-in meal in Harry Ramsdens), followed by a night of light revelry in Manchester.
As for the match itself, with qualification to the last 16 already secured (unlike some), United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will most likely make a few changes to his side- expect either Tomasz Kuszszak or Ben(ny Hill) Foster to start in goals, Darron Gibson and Gabriel Obertan (but not Zoran Tosic- he wasn't included in United's Champions League squad) to start in midfield, and perhaps a place in attack for either Federico Macheda or Danny Welbeck.

The Verdict
Shifty and Graeme will, by the end of Wednesday, be quite merry, having enjoyed a few light shandies. Oh wait, that's probably not the verdict y'all wanted to hear. Despite the likelihood of changes, United should still field a strong starting 11 and, given Besiktas' poor away form (they conceded 8 on their last trip to the UK), United should edge this one. K Stand, about 1/3rd of the way up, midway along, if you want to keep an eye out for Shifty and Graeme

The Bet
As previously stated, Darron Gibson is a likely starter. He has a beast of a shot on him (witness his goal against Hull last season), and can be backed to score anytime at a best price of 15/2 with Paddy Power. Otherwise, if you fancy a cheeky correct score bet, how about 2-1 Man Utd, available at a best price of 17/2 with Boylesports

Live updates from Shifty and Graeme's Big Blog Adventure will be available on www.twitter.com/father_bloopy

Enjoy

Friday 20 November 2009

Some random bets that be taking my interest

With the Premier League back in action this weekend, here are a few more bets that look like providing good value:
  • Sunderland v Arsenal over 2.5 goals- best price 4/6 with Coral. Arsenal have scored a preposterous 55 goals in 19 games in all competitions this season (10 of their 11 Premier League games this season have featured over 2.5 goals), and even without the injured Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner, Arsene Wenger's side still carry plenty of goalscoring menace for a Sunderland side whose 1st choice keeper Craig Gordon is out injured. Also factor in the current goalscoring form of Darren Bent for Sunderland, and the fact that Arsenal's defence may well include Mickael Silvestre at left-back. Statistically speaking, Arsenal's 11 Premier League games have featured an average of 4.54 goals per game (this is actually insane), while Sunderland's matches themselves have averaged 3.25 per game. If you're feeling really brave, one could even be tempted by over 3.5 goals, available at a best price of 6/4 with Boylesports
  • Chelsea really ought to be beating Wolves quite comfortably, and a best price of a general 1/6 reflects this. Therefore, it's necessary to look elsewhere if you want a decent value bet on this game. If you're looking for a correct score, then anything between 2-0 and 6-0 is probably worth considering. Chelsea haven't conceded at home since the opening day of the season, and after getting a pasting from Arsenal last week, it's difficult to imagine Wolves being terribly adventurous in this one (also consider that seeing footballers in blue adidas shirts probably brings Wolves striker Kevin Doyle out in a cold sweat right now), so, at a best price of 8/11 with Blue Square, Chelsea to win to nil could represent decent value
  • Birmingham v Fulham is one of those games that, at first glance, looks like resulting in a draw. Alex Mcleish's Birmingham side have drawn their last 2, while Roy Hodgson's Fulham have drawn 3 of their last 5. The draw can be backed at a best price of 23/10 with Victor Chandler. Another bet worth considering here is under 2.5 goals- neither side have been exactly potent infront of goal this season (Birmingham have scored just 4 goals in 6 Premier League home games this season, with Fulham managing 7 in 6 away games), while at the same time having reasonably solid defensive records, therefore Skybet's 4/6 on under 2.5 goals is worth considering

Will there be any controversial handballs this weekend? It's a Given

Here's this week's edition of Graeme's Silly Bet:

The 1987 Crystal Light National Aerobic Champioship Team Competition: The San Francisco Bay Club
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeMJOPlK-0E

After the midweek excitement of the play-offs which had it all, handball controversy, Shay Given going mental and Russia getting bundled out, it's back to normal league action this weekend.

Post-international games tend to throw up problems for the more multi-cultured clubs. For example, how are Arsenal going to cope without placenta-drench Robin van Persie leading the line for a few weeks. You could say his ankle is a big bloody mess. Arsenal cannot be happy with Giorgio Chiellini's ligament busting challenge.

This weekend has thrown up some interesting match-ups, onwards with the bets:

Sunderland v Arsenal
Steve Bruce will continue to highlight his growing reputation in management circles with a stonking 2-0 victory over what, some believe, will be his future club

Sunderland to win 5/1 @ Paddy Power

Liverpool v Man City
AT the beginning of the season there were a few mentals who thought that this would be a top of the table clash. Instead, Hughes and Benitez have managed to make some crazy signing decisions to determine the contrary. This Saturday's 4th spot decider looks set to see Aquilani make his first start in the league for his new club with Johnson and Gerrard on the bench, therefore I think City will lose this late in the game by 2 goals to 1

Liverpool to win 2-1, 13/2 @ William Hill

Dundee v ICT
I hate Caley, Sean Higgins FTW!

Sean Higgins 1st goalscorer, no odds up yet

On a side note, check out this comic blog drawn by two guys from Alness with nothing better to do with their time
http://www.drawnbydrunks.co.uk

Thursday 19 November 2009

Burnley v Aston Villa, Saturday 21st November

My Thoughts

After a week of international football, it's back to league business for these two in the 2nd Claret and Blue Derby of the season. Both sides should be realtively fresh going into this one- neither side had many players away on international duty. Burnley's current 10th position in the league is based on their excellent home form (5-0-1), with only Wigan's trip to Turf Moor last month resulting in a home defeat. By the same token, though, their away form is terrible (0-1-5). One aspect of their home record to take into consideration is that they have yet to win at home against a good side in good form- when Everton were defeated 1-0, they were still recovering from their 6-1 destruction at the hands of Arsenal, and the Manchester United side defeated at Turf Moor was some way short of top form. One must also take note of how unfortunate Hull City were to lose 2-0 against Owen Coyle's men, due to a number of questionable refereeing decisions that day. Aston Villa's away form over the last 2 seasons has always been respectable; indeed, many feel that their counter-attacking style is better suited to playing away from Villa Park, and has led to them already clinching away wins at Anfield and St Andrews.

The Verdict
This looks like being one of the more interesting matches of a Premier League weekend which features what will no doubt be edge-of-the-seat thrillers such as Stoke v Portsmouth and Blackburn v Bolton. Villa are actually due an away win- they have not won in their last 4 league away games, and go into this one fresh off the back of stuffing Burnley's Lancashire rivals Bolton 5-1. With Gabriel Agbonlahor rediscovering his goalscoring touch (and up against a defence that has already conceded 25 Premier League goals), this writer fancies Villa to win this one

The Bet
Aston Villa can be backed to win outright at a best price of 5/4 with Skybet. Alternatively, if you fancy backing Gabriel Agbonlahor, he can be backed to score anytime at a best price of 2/1 with Coral, or for a slightly more random anytime scorer, 4 of Villa's 8 Premier League goalscorers this season have been defenders- Stephen Warnock's yet to get in on that action, though- the ex-Blackburn left-back can be backed to score anytime against his old club's biggest local rivals at 12/1 with Skybet

Shifty and Graeme's Big Blog Adventure

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!



Shifty is delighted to confirm details of Shifty and Graeme's Big Blog Adventure. On Wednesday 25th November, Shifty and Graeme will be attending the Manchester United v Besiktas match, staying in Manchester that evening for light revelry, before returning north the following day, with pictures and tales galore to post on here.
Shifty will be providing a preview of the game on Tuesday, and Graeme is also looking into the possibility of a live Twitter linkup during the Big Blog Adventure- keep checking the blog for further details
Weekend previews to follow

Midweek Betting Review

Here's how the recommended bets fared last night:

Greece to beat Ukraine @ 4/1- 1 unit returns 5
Fanis Gekas anytime scorer- 1 unit returns 0
Russia to beat Slovenia- 1 unit returns 0
Slovenia v Russia under 3.5 goals @ 2/9- 1 unit returns 1.22
Ireland to beat France (in 90 minutes) @ 13/2 - 1 unit returns 7.5
France v Ireland 0-0 half-time- 1 unit returns 0
Bosnia v Portugal draw- 1 unit returns 0
Pepe anytime scorer- 1 unit returns 0
Harris Medunjanin anytime scorer- 1 unit returns 0

Total Outlay: 9 units
Total Return: 13.72 units
Return/ Outlay %: 152.44%

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Two matches down, two to go...


Here's a couple of more digestible previews for the remaining 2 play-off matches:


Ukraine v Greece

Ukraine's play-off record is horrible: played 6, won 0, drawn 3, lost 3. By all accounts, Saturday's 0-0 was a turgid affair- both teams will know that they will have to sharpen up in attack if they want to qualify. These two actually have previous: they met in qualifying campaigns for EURO 2004 and Germany 2006, with Ukraine having a slight edge. However, Greece's Fanis Gekas will surely not be as profilgate as he was on Saturday (along with Edin Dzeko and Wayne Rooney, he was one of the top scorers during qualifying), and he may just be the man to nick a goal for Greece to take them to South Africa.
Betting: Greece to win outright- best price 4/1 @ Coral
Fanis Gekas anytime scorer- best price 7/2 @ extrabet
Slovenia v Russia
A late goal for Slovenia on Saturday gives them a real chance to have a go at Russia tonight. Slovenia's qualifying record at home was pretty solid- 12 goals scored, only 1 conceded, as they won 4 and drew 1 of 5 qualifiers. They also have a decent record in the play-offs, qualifying on 2 out of 3 attempts in the play-offs. However, this writer looks at Russia and still sees too much individual talent and a strong team (with Guus Hiddink in charge, they're always going to be competitive), and therefore, after also considering the struggles of teams who lose 1st legs, Russia should progress.
Betting: Russia to win outright- best price 13/10 at Stan James
Under 3.5 goals- best price 2/9 at Paddy Power

France v Ireland, Wednesday 18th November

My Thoughts

There's an old saying that goes along the lines of "lies, damn lies and statistics". Now, this writer hasn't spent the last 3 days looking at the first 2 of those, instead focusing on the statistics. And, while stats can be difficult to draw definitive conclusions from, one thing is clear: Ireland have an absolute mountain to climb. Historically, if you lose the 1st leg of your tie, you're in big trouble. Lose the 1st leg at home, and, in 12 years, no side has ever managed to qualify from such a position, and only Scotland (there's a recurring theme here: Scotland seem to be the exception to just about every single rule of the play-offs) have ever managed any kind of result in the 2nd leg, having lost the 1st leg at home. They must also score at least once against a French defence which only conceded 3 goals in 5 home qualifiers, and try and keep out a French attack which, despite being short of top form, still managed 12 goals in 5 home qualifiers. France's home form is generally good- indeed, the only team to have beaten them at home in a competitive international in the last 12 years are, yep, you guessed it, Scotland. Still, nothing wrong with blind faith and Guinness-fuelled optimism, though- Ireland did manage a 0-0 draw against France in Paris back in 2004.

The Verdict
The challenge facing Ireland is plain to see- in Saturday's 1st leg, as expected, there was plenty of endeavour from Ireland, along with a desire to test France in the air, and to try and expose their supposed weakness at set pieces. However, they achieved limited success with this ploy, and in the end the superior quality of France's attackers won them the game. Both sides are likely to adopt similar approaches, with possibly 1 or 2 personnel alterations (France centre-back Eric Abidal is ruled out with injury, Giovanni Trappattoni may decide to bring Aiden McGeady into his side on the wing). Therefore, looking at this and the previous play-off stats, at the risk of being unpopular this writer has to tip France to progress.

The Bet
Two Irish bookies, namely Boylesports and Paddy Power, are patriotically pledging to refund a selection of losing bets should Ireland win in normal time. Personally, this writer reckons their money is safe. Expect many Irish punters to have a bit of money on their team at the generally available 13/2, which represents decent value. However, a more solid bet is likely to be 0-0 at half-time, available at 9/5 with Blue Square. Neither team will want to concede early on for fear of losing momentum to the other, and Ireland may fell that their best option is to simply get a foothold in the game early on, rather than going gung-ho early on.

Bosnia v Portugal, Wednesday 18th November

My Thoughts

Portugal go into this game with a narrow, 1-0 advantage from Saturday's 1st leg, courtesy of Bruno Alves' goal. For Bosnia, this will be by some margin their biggest ever game as an independent nation. The game has the potential to be open- previous play-off results tell us that 2nd legs tend to feature more goals that 1st legs- an average of 2.7 goals per game in 2nd legs, compared to 2.45 in 1st legs. Along with this, Bosnia's favoured 3-4-1-2 formation features two wing-backs in Senijad Ibricic (rumoured to be attracting interest from Celtic) and Sejad Salihovic whose strengths are going forward as opposed to backward- the flipside of this being that this gives space in advanced wide positions for the likes of Nani to exploit. Bosnia also must do without the suspended midfield pair of Elvir Rahimic and Samir Muratovic, aloing with centre-back Emir Spahic, and the injured Zvjezdan Misimovic, who looks set to be replaced by debutant Harris Medunjanin. Portugal, aside from the injured CR7, travelled to Bosnia with a fully-fit and suspension-free squad.

The Verdict
As was the case with the 1st leg, this is a very tough one to call. The history books do not favour Ciro Blazevic's men: in the last 12 years, of the 14 teams who have lost the 1st legs of their ties, only Holland have gone on to qualify. Bizarrely, of the 3 ties where a team has lost the 1st leg and won the 2nd leg, Scotland have featured in 2 of them. Bosnia must also improve on a defensive record which saw them concede 13 times in 10 qualifying matches- by means of comparison, Portugal only conceded 5. As mentioned in my previous post, the play-off matches usually seem to feature 4 home wins, and an equal number of draws and away wins. Given that Saturday saw 2 home wins, 1 away win and 1 draw, we can expect a similar sequence of results tonight- this writer would be erring to call this match as a draw. Expect a big effort from Bosnia, with Edin Dzeko causing real problems for the Portugal defence, but I ultimately reckon they will fall just short of the final hurdle.

The Bet
The draw can be backed at 12/5 with Ladbrokes. Also, it wouldn't be right if this writer didn't throw a couple of random anytime goalscorers in. In Pepe and Bruno Alves, Portugal have a pair of centre-backs capable of nabbing the odd goal, as shown by Bruno Alves netting the only goal of the game on Saturday. Pepe will probably be thinking to himself "It's my turn now" and can be backed to score anytime at 12/1 with William Hill. Also, how about Harris Medunjanin to mark his international debut with a goal? He can be backed anytime at 11/2 with bet365.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

World Cup Qualifying Play-Offs 2nd Legs, Wednesday 18th November

Preamble

The last remaining World Cup places are up for grabs in Europe tomorrow night, and, as ever, this intrepid writer has had his head buried in stats in order to preview these games for y'all. The play-offs are always tense, dramatic occasions, a chance for relative unknowns to become national heroes (in New Zealand, the government are being lobbied to change the name of the national Westpac Stadium to Rory Fallon Park; in 1997, a young Gianluigi Buffon made his Italy debut in a snowy play-off match in Moscow) and for national heroes to become, er, zeroes. Over the last 2 days, this writer has been furiously analysing previous qualifying matches and play-off results (I've been off work with a broken metatarsal), and come to some interesting conclusions:
  • Ukraine have never progressed to an international tournament through the play-offs. Indeed, in 6 matches in 3 play-offs, they have won 0, drawn 3 and lost 3. Their 0-0 draw away in Greece was their first draw away from Ukraine in the play-offs, and even that result came thanks to a questionable decision to rule out a Fanis Gekas goal
  • Over the course of the 6, 8 or 10 matches (depending on the qualifying format, there have been either 3, 4 or 5 play-off matches in 1998-2006 (there were none for EURO 2008)), there have been, in 4 of the 5 tournaments, 4 home wins. With Portugal and Russia securing home wins in the 1st legs on Saturday, it would be reasonable to assume 2 home wins tomorrow night
  • Ireland have a mountain to climb in France. Of the 5 teams to have previously lost the 1st leg of their tie at home, none have managed to qualify, indeed only Scotland have managed any kind of result in the 2nd leg after losing the 1st leg at home. Ireland's play-off record against European nations is also poor- they have now won none of their last 5 play-off matches, and only scored 6 goals in 5 away qualifying matches. They've also failed to beat France in 3 competitive internationals over the last 12 years
  • As a general rule, if you lose the 1st leg, you're out. Over the past 12 years, out of 14 teams who have lost the 1st leg of their ties, only Holland have gone on to qualify
  • 2nd legs tend to be more open than 1st legs. Over 20 1st legs, an average of 2.45 goals were scored per game. However, in the 2nd legs, this increased to 2.7 goals per game
  • Despite the previous stat, don't expect goals galore in the Ukraine v Greece match. Their 4 previous competitive internationals have produced a meagre total of just 6 goals. Consider also Ukraine's defence, which only conceded 6 goals throughout the entire qualifying campaign

So there you have some initial stats to ponder, lovingly computed for y'all by this writer. Full previews of the games to follow

Saturday 14 November 2009

England v Brazil, Saturday 14th November

My Thoughts

England play Brazil this evening in a friendly match in Qatar, as they try to win the World Cup in more ways than one: a match against one of the very best sides in the world is sure to provide a thorough examination of their credentials for 2010, while delegates from their 2018 bid will no doubt be making representations to local businessman Mohmammed Bin Hamman, whose Saturday job happens to be FIFA vice-president. It's also more than reasonable to suspect that the FA's coffers will have been boosted by playing this match.

The Verdict
International friendlies are notoriously difficult to judge, with the likelihood that both sides will start considerably short of full-strength, and then make a plethora of substitutions during the game. England in particular have lost a number of first-choice players for this match, and this match will therefore be an opportunity to evaluate the likes of Wayne Bridge, Darren Bent, Ben Foster and James Milner at the highest level. Brazil, meanwhile, should still be able to field a strong side, given the depth in talent at Dunga's disposal. The Selecao were impressive in the Confederations Cup this summer, despite not appearing 100% convincing in defence (but if they were, they wouldn't be Brazil), and with the likes of Luis Fabiano and Robinho in attack, they should have too much for the Two Lions (it would be 3, but they're missing so many of their first-choice players) in Doha this evening.

The Bet
Brazil are available at a general 11/10, which represents great value. Alternatively, these two sides' games recently have tended to produce a few goals, so over 2.5 goals avaliable at a general 4/5 is worth a shout, as is Luis Fabiano to score anytime at 15/8 with Coral, although it might be an idea to wait until the starting line-ups are confirmed before placing any goalscorer bets

Thursday 12 November 2009

Portugal v Bosnia, Saturday 14th November


My Thoughts


For those of you who perhaps don't follow European football all that closely, you'll probably go into your local bookies on Saturday morning and think "home banker, surely. Portugal are ace and Bosnia are rubbish". Well, allow this writer to enlighten you. Bosnia have actually been good these last 18 months, finishing 2nd in their qualifying group behind Spain, and ahead of Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey (more about the woes of semi-finalists failing to qualify next time round later), with Wolfsburg stars Edin Dzeko (pictured) and Zvjezdan Misimovic (it's a good job I don't write these entries in Microsoft Word, otherwise the spellchecker would have just exploded) key to a qualifying campaign which saw them score (and concede) more goals than any of the other sides in the play-offs. Portugal, on the other hand, are not quite the force they were not so long ago. The stars of their World Youth Cup-winning side of the early 90s have long gone, and beleagured coach Carlos Queiroz has found that the likes of Simao, Raul Meireles and Helder Postiga are simply not of the same standard as Figo, Rui Costa and Fernando Couto. Add to that the absence of their one genuine world-class player, Cristiano Ronaldo, through an ankle injury, and one has good reason to suspect this won't be an easy tie for Portugal. England in 1994. Sweden in 1998. Holland in 2002. Turkey in 2006. Will Portugal fail to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, having made it to the semi-finals of the previous one?
The Verdict
This is a tough one to call. Both teams will surely have one eye on Wednesday's 2nd leg in Zenica, especially the 9 Bosnia players (I'll refrain from calling them Bosnians- let's not get into that debate) who are 1 yellow card away from missing that match. But hey, all 22 starting players for both sides, plus 14 subs, will be 2 yellow cards away from missing the match, so Bosnia coach Ciro Blazevic (who is 74 years old, and once ran for the Croatian presidency. Not of the FA, of the country) may not wish to dwell on that too much. The main reason Portugal are in the play-offs is because of the absolute pig's ear they made of their early qualifying fixtures- 0-0 draws at home to Albania and Sweden, and a 3-2 loss at home to Denmark. Despite winning their last 2 home games fairly comfortably, they are far from invincible at home. Bosnia's away form (won 3, lost 2 against Spain and Turkey) is respectable enough and, as already mentioned, they are more than capable of finding the net (provided this relatively inexperienced team does not freeze), even against an improving Portuguese backline. However, stopping them going in at the other end is likely to be the big problem for Blazevic's men and, even without Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal should still have enough quality to take a narrow lead into Wednesday's 2nd leg.
The Bet
There's not much value in Portugal outright at a general 1/2, but do take it if you feel that Bosnia will indeed freeze. Given that both sides boast considerable attacking prowess (Dzeko's presence on the Balon D'Or shortlist is testament to that), it might be worthwhile considering over 2.5 goals, available at 5/6 with Paddy Power

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Graeme belongs to James Richardson

Graeme's well-prepared for this weekend's action. Enjoy

After last week's accumulator that I never wrote up and nearly won £19K on, your intrepid stupid bet evoking columnist is getting his act together for this week's round of matches.
Once again we have a weekend of international silly punt madness to peruse over so here are some ill-thought out tips:
  • Bahrain to score 1st away to New Zealand, with Nigerian-born Jaycee John Okuwanne providing the firepower upfront. He is good at scoring important headers, ken' which put them into the playoffs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1nMBPPum-M&feature=related 3 minutes in
  • Ireland to beat France. Croke Park, bitching atmosphere and Raymond Domenech will all combine to secure a 1-0 victory for the Guinness drinkers. France to win on aggregate though. Glorious failure is the rule for Celtic teams
  • Uruguay to beat Costa Rica. Forlan is ace
  • Brazil to pump a highly-overrated England. Glen Johnson is the weak link and he has silly hair

Rugby Union Special:

Scotland v Fiji

In the words of Jim Mason, "New coach, new team, new challenge"

These two sides haven't met since the 2003 Rugby World Cup where Scotland only prevailed by a two point margin. Over the past 6 years both sides' fortunes have changed. Fiji are now a genuine top ten team while Scotland are managed by a failed English coach and sit behing Fiji in the world rankings. Scotland will win this one though, just. I predict a tight match with Scotland winning infront of a sparse crowd at Murrayfield by under 10 points.

Friday 6 November 2009

Ross County v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Saturday 7th November

My Thoughts

You put your left hand in.....

Without doubt the biggest game of this weekend, and arguably the biggest of County's season so far. The Staggies go into this Highland Derby off the back of last week's 2-0 defeat away at Queen of the South, while the Caravan Dwellers from the Ferry cross the Kessock Bridge following a 4-1 victory at home to Morton last Saturday. The two sides' managers have had somewhat different modes of preparation for this game this week: while County boss Derek Adams will have been working with his players and on his team line-up and strategy for Saturday, Terry Butcher was doing punditry work for STV (a curious fact about Scottish Television's production of Champions League coverage is that it features only one Scotsman in County fan Rob Maclean) during their coverage of Lyon v liverpool, and had to stumble his way through talking about a team he clearly knew nothing about, who were playing Lyon that night.

The Verdict
These two sides have met twice so far, with both games played (1 league, 1 ALBA Cup) at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. Both sides have won 1 game each, with County triumphing 3-1 in August's league encounter. Regarding team news, County are likely to go with 1 or 2 from Paul Di Giacomo, Steven Craig and Garry Wood in attack, depending on whether Derek Adams decides on a 4-4-2 diamond or a 4-4-1-1 formation. As for Caley Thistle, I haven't bothered to read an Inverness Courier this week, so haven't a clue who's in and out. Either way, this writer predicts a tight, scrappy game- typical Highland derby stuff. Expect Steven Watt, Stuart Kettlewell and Scott Morrison in particular to attempt some potentially disfiguring challenges. On that front, Caley's Ross Tokely surely needs no introduction.

The Bet
Last weekend aside, County have been in good form this season, and can be backed to win outright at 9/5 with bet365. 'Mon the Staggies