Andy Walker’s Scottish Premiership and Cup Final predictions for this weekend is out, and it’s got people talking on Twitter.
The Scottish former footballer played as a striker for several clubs in Scotland and England between 1984 and 2000, including Motherwell, Celtic, Newcastle, Bolton, Sheffield United, Hibernian, Raith, Ayr, Carlisle, Partick and Alloa.
He also made three full international appearances for Scotland. Since retiring as a player, Walker has become a TV pundit as well as a commentator, and now works for Sky Sports. See what he had to say in his latest set of predictions below…
Rangers vs Motherwell
Everyone was taken by surprise when St Mirren managed to become the first Scottish side in nine months to defeat Rangers on Wednesday night, the chance of securing the first trophy of the season has gone for Steven Gerrard. Having gone 27 games unbeaten, no one thought that run would end in Paisley.
Realistically though, the only show in town this season is the league title for Rangers and they have a chance of extending their lead at the top of the table to 16 points with a win, given that Celtic are on Scottish Cup final duty on Sunday.
Alfredo Morelos will be missing for Rangers after the club accepted a retrospective two-game ban after the Colombian’s yellow card offence last weekend at Tannadice was upgraded to a red.
Motherwell travel to Ibrox in poor form having lost at home to St Mirren last time out but in Declan Gallagher, Alan Campbell and Tony Watt, they do have players capable of playing well on a big stage.
Andy Walker’s prediction: 2-1
Hibernian vs Dundee United
Hibs are enjoying a good spell at the moment, winning their last four games in all competitions. I saw them dismantle Hamilton last weekend when they could have won by an even more convincing margin than the four goals they got.
Kevin Nisbet was in tremendous form, as well as getting a goal his game outside the box was very impressive. It won’t be easy against a United side who ran Rangers close in a narrow 2-1 defeat at Tannadice.
Micky Mellon has his team well organised and hard to beat but it’s the number of potential matchwinners on the home side that should see them edge it.
Andy Walker’s prediction: 1-0
Ross County vs Hamilton
Stuart Kettlewell is very quickly finding out that life back in the top-flight has a harsh reality to it. His team are now nine league games without a win and have slipped to the bottom of the table. It’s remarkable that in the middle of that spell they were able to beat Celtic in Glasgow on League Cup duty, a win that highlights what they are capable of.
Securing all three points here would lift them off the bottom of the table. Accies, despite losing 11 of their league games and conceding a league-high 40 goals, know how to win the big games against sides around them. They’ve been doing it for years and despite losing heavily last weekend at home to Hibs, I can see them bouncing back quickly here.
Andy Walker’s prediction: 1-2
St Mirren vs St Johnstone
What a week for Jim Goodwin and his men! They produced a result against all the odds by beating Rangers in the League Cup, scoring three goals into the bargain and securing a place in the semi-finals. This outstanding result came on the back of a vital win at Fir Park last weekend against Motherwell to take them off the foot of the table.
Can they build on that with another victory over Calum Davidson’s men? Well, they too secured a place in the semi-finals of the League Cup with a win over Dunfermline on penalties.
Their recent form had been good, holding Celtic to a draw in Glasgow while on an 11-game unbeaten run, but defeat at home to Livingston ended that impressive streak. I can’t separate the two sides.
Andy Walker’s prediction: 0-0
We continue with Andy Walker’s Scottish Premiership predictions….
Kilmarnock vs Aberdeen
Kilmarnock boss Alex Dyer wasn’t too impressed with his players last weekend at Celtic Park when they started the match well but fell away badly in the second half. In reality though, Dyer has been able to rely on his players more often than not this season and a home game against an Aberdeen side who beat Ross County last weekend will be tough.
It’s extraordinary to think that Kilmarnock have only managed one victory in their last 26 league meetings with Derek McInnes’ men. Right now, Killie are struggling to score goals while Aberdeen have only lost one of their last 12 away league games. Curtis Main was given a chance in attack against Ross County and he took it, scoring both goal in a 2-0 home win.
Andy Walker’s prediction: 1-2
Celtic v Hearts
In normal times, the Scottish Cup final stands alone as the major cup competition to be played for at the end of the season at Hampden and more often than not, in baking sunshine.
Unlike last season’s league competitions that were called early, the Scottish Cup of 2019/20 will be played to a finish on Sunday in the bitter cold of a dark winter, just five days before Christmas.
Celtic are going for what would be a never-to-be-forgotten quadruple treble if they overcome Scottish Championship side Hearts in the middle of a stuttering league challenge in the Scottish Premiership to Rangers.
Sadly, like most of the Scottish games this season, it will be played inside an empty arena with neither set of fans able to enjoy a remarkable victory no matter who prevails on the day.
For Celtic, a win would signify the astonishing level of dominance that they have had on Scottish football since Brendan Rodgers took over from Ronny Deila in 2016, the Northern Irishman winning eight trophies in succession before leaving for Leicester City.
It highlights how brutal and unforgiving management can be that Neil Lennon has won all four domestic trophies since then, is on the verge of winning five out of five and yet he could still find himself out of a job if a large section of the support get their way when things are reviewed in January.
For ‘reviewed in January’ as described by the Celtic board at their recent AGM in answer to fans growing protests, read ‘we will see if we can win at Ibrox on January 2 to reduce a sizable gap’. If not, Lennon could be on his way out.
As always, team selection will be crucial while Neil Lennon has stumbled on a midfield chemistry of Ismaila Soro, David Turnbull, Jeremie Frimpong to complement Calum McGregor, the likelihood is that the Celtic manager will find a place for the experienced Scott Brown.
Brown has been at Hampden many times and led Celtic to numerous triumphs. It seems that Lennon desperately wants to give his captain another chance to steer his players to a truly remarkable recent haul of trophies.
You get the feeling that for so many Celtic fans, the only show in town this season is the Scottish Premiership title given the massive significance of achieving 10-in-a-row. But players love to win things and I’d be amazed if Celtic produce anything as bad as the woeful performance they came up with recently losing to Ross County in the Scottish League Cup.
For Robbie Neilson and his Hearts side, without going over all of the nonsense and confusion that saw various club relationships strained to breaking point over the summer, in the end it was the Tynecastle club who bore the brunt and were relegated from the Scottish Premiership on a points-per-game basis while survival was very much on the cards.
In my view, Hearts are a Scottish Premiership side in everything but name.
Currently leading the Scottish Championship and certainties to bounce back to the top-flight at the first time of asking, they can call upon the experience of Craig Gordon, Christophe Berra, Steven Naismith and Liam Boyce.
Like Brown, goalkeeper Gordon has the understanding and familiarity of knowing what it takes to achieve success given how formidable he performed time and time again in a Celtic shirt over the years.
It will sting members of the Celtic board if he manages to be part of a shock Hearts win while his £5m replacement Vasilis Barkas is unsure of a starting slot and has much to do to convince the Celtic faithful that he’s up to the job.
Hearts beat Rangers in an earlier round of this competition so that tells you they are capable of rising to the occasion. Beating Hibs in the semi-final was another notable scalp and that recent experience of playing at Hampden should serve them well.
Berra and Craig Halkett are a sound defensive partnership in front of Gordon and with Naismith and Jamie Walker supporting Boyce, they have numerous players who can impose themselves on the big stage.
But the lure of securing a quadruple treble will surely see Celtic handle anything that even the best Hearts performance can throw at them.
Think about that for a second – a win at Hampden on Sunday will be the 12th domestic trophy in succession for the Scottish champions.
I don’t think anyone will come close to achieving that run of success again in my lifetime and even allowing for their recent poor form, I think a bit of history will be made at Hampden on Sunday.
Andy Walker’s prediction: Celtic 2-1 Hearts
View this post on Instagram
What do you make of Andy Walker’s Scottish Premiership and Cup Final predictions? Let us know by commenting below!
You must be logged in to post a comment Login