Live on Sky Sports 1: Thurs 15.00: A 4/1 treble at Coral is one of our three Scottish Premiership picks on Boxing Day.
Attention will be focused on the chasing pack during the full programme of 3pm Premiership kick-offs on Boxing Day. Dundee United, Aberdeen and Inverness are all tied on 32 points, and the race for European places looks to be as exciting as the race for the is a foregone conclusion.
Leaders Celtic will be heavily backed to make it six league wins on the bounce when they head to St Johnstone, with Stan James offering 4/9 on an away victory. They are priced at 7/1 by Bet365 to achieve a repeat of September’s 2-1 scoreline at Celtic Park. The Saints are 6/1 with BetVictor to confound the pundits and take maximum points while the odds of it ending all square are 3/1 with William Hill.
Dundee United are another team looking for their sixth consecutive league win, and they will be fancied (4/5 with Betway) to secure it away at St Mirren. The hosts were soundly beaten at Motherwell last time out and will need to improve to get anything from this one, but confident home fans can get 7/2 with Stan James on a home win. The stalemate, meanwhile, is priced at 14/5 by Bet365.
Aberdeen are in third place, ahead of Inverness only on goals scored, and they face one of their top six rivals when Motherwell arrive at Pittodrie. The Dons have already beaten their opponents by two goals twice this season – both away from home – and they will fancy their chances of benefiting from home advantage and making it a hat-trick (4/5 with Bet365).
Motherwell themselves could hit second place with a win though, and they are 3/1 with Paddy Power to grab a victory. The draw is priced at 5/2 by BetVictor while a repeat of Aberdeen’s 3-1 success earlier in the campaign is 14/1 with Stan James.
Inverness will view their game as a chance to consolidate their position in the race for European places. They head to Partick, who have lost five and drawn one of their last six, and Caley Thistle are 5/4 with Bet365 to do the business. However, the Jags grabbed a rare away win when they visited the Caledonian Stadium in October, and they are 9/4 with BetVictor to repeat that feat. Winner.com is pricing a draw at 11/5.
Struggling Ross County face a Hibernian outfit that have not yet set the world alight under new manager Terry Butcher. The Staggies are 8/5 with Ladbrokes to frustrate their visitors further with a home win while the odds of it ending all square are 23/10 with Stan James. Hibs are 8/5 with BetVictor to achieve their first victory in nine league outings.
Hearts improved on their previous showing against Celtic when they managed to restrict the champions to a 2-0 win last weekend, but the Edinburgh side are still looking for that elusive victory that would finally wipe out their negative points tally. They are 15/8 with Bet365 to secure it at home to Kilmarnock, but Killie will fancy their chances of a second win of the season over Hearts. That is priced at 11/8 by Skybet while a repeat of the 2-0 they secured at Rugby Park is 11/1 with BetVictor. The draw is available at 9/4 with Stan James.
Recommended Bets:
Hibs to beat Ross County – 8/5 (BetVictor)
Treble on Aberdeen, Celtic and Dundee Utd – 4/1 (Coral)
Double on Inverness and Kilmarnock – 9/2 (Ladbrokes)
Compare all Scottish Premiership odds and bet at the best price.
