Andy Walker’s Scottish Premiership predictions

Andy Walker’s Scottish Premiership predictions for this week has now been revealed, 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…

Aberdeen vs Hamilton

Derek McInnes believes the race with Hibs to finish third in the table is still very much alive despite being four points behind the Edinburgh club having played a game more. His team are going through a torrid spell with just two wins from their last nine games and scoring goals is a growing problem for them.

Unfortunately, Fraser Hornby will be missing for a few weeks so the onus will be on Florian Kamberi to get off the mark.

As always, you have to admire the fighting spirit of this Accies side under Brian Rice.

They followed up that impressive point at home to Rangers by winning at Fir Park so convincingly and the loan signing of Bruce Anderson from Aberdeen has provided the little spark that they needed. Ross Callachan scored a magnificent goal against St Johnstone in midweek and he too looks a bright prospect.

Andy Walker’s prediction: 2-0

Motherwell vs Livingston

As a former Motherwell player, I know how highly the club regarded Ian St John and they will no doubt want to pay tribute to such a popular figure at Fir Park for so many years following his death earlier this week.

After a very impressive win at Easter Road last weekend, Motherwell look to have enough in their squad to avoid any hint of getting sucked into the bottom two places. Declan Gallagher returned to action last weekend and I imagine his defensive qualities will help secure more points for the club.

Livingston will regard themselves as being unlucky not to have won a point against Rangers during the week and to their credit, there was no evidence of a drop in commitment after losing the League Cup final last weekend to St Johnstone. It’ll be interesting to see how manager David Martindale handles Scott Robinson.

The striker came on as a substitute against Rangers but was then substituted himself. His anger was apparent as he stormed off the pitch.

Andy Walker’s prediction: 1-1

Rangers vs St Mirren

A maximum of four points now is all that is required for Steven Gerrard to secure his first trophy as Rangers manager. Yet again, Alfredo Morelos was the matchwinner in midweek against Livingston but you’d be hard pushed to name an undisputed player of the season at Ibrox.

From the goalkeeper Alan McGregor to James Tavernier, Conor Goldson, Steve Davis, Glen Kamara, Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent, the list is endless as to how consistent this team has been. Unbelievably, St Mirren are the only side to date who have beaten the champions-elect but it’s equally remarkable that Rangers have taken maximum points at Ibrox in every league game this season.

Credit to St Mirren too, they are on course for an excellent points total and under Jim Goodwin seem to be going from strength to strength. Holding off the challenge from St Johnstone and Dundee Utd to secure a top-six finish will be a terrific achievement for the Paisley club.

Andy Walker’s prediction: 4-0

Ross County vs Kilmarnock

This one won’t be for the faint-hearted as the relegation dogfight really begins to hot up.

No one would have tipped Ross County to beat Celtic a couple of weeks ago in Dingwall but those three points made such a difference and as well as boosting the confidence of everyone in the Highlands that they could get themselves out of trouble, it brought a lot of doubt and fear to everyone associated with Kilmarnock.

John Hughes has given his team a sense of belief that they can escape the drop and in Jordan White, he has a striker capable of a big goal.

Kilmarnock have been dropping down the league at an alarming rate but possibly have a saviour in Kyle Lafferty, his presence up front is giving Tommy Wright a bit of hope that they can get the wins they so desperately need. Thankfully for Kilmarnock, they ended an eight-game losing run with a draw at home to Dundee Utd last weekend.

Andy Walker’s prediction: 1-0

St Johnstone vs Hibernian

Winning the League Cup last weekend was a tremendous achievement for St Johnstone and quite rightly, they’ll celebrate with their fans when the time is right.

Shaun Rooney was the matchwinner and Calum Davidson was happy to promote his chances of getting into the Scotland squad on the back of a consistent run of form. A late goal from Guy Melamed rescued a point at Hamilton on Wednesday but it seems as though a top-six finish might just be out of their reach.

I was surprised to see Hibs losing at home to Motherwell last weekend that brought their four-game winning run to an end. Aberdeen certainly won’t give up the chase to finish third easily and it would represent quite an achievement for Jack Ross to see Hibs exceed all expectations to be the best of the rest out with Celtic and Rangers.

Andy Walker’s prediction: 1-2

Dundee Utd vs Celtic

Micky Mellon still has high hopes of edging out St Mirren and St Johnstone for that coveted top-six finish and will obviously take some hope after Celtic lost out to lowly Ross County in their last away fixture.

They played well when the sides first met at Tannadice earlier this season and only lost out to a late goal from Celtic substitute Albian Ajeti. It looks like Odsonne Edouard is into his last days as a Celtic player with Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City reportedly expressing an interest in taking him to the Premier League for around £15m.

With more than 80 goals to his name in Scotland, he’ll be a tough one to replace. John Kennedy has seven more league games to make his mark as a potential successor to Neil Lennon and only wins with a bit of style can help him.

Interestingly, he has given Patrik Klimala a chance to play alongside Edouard in a partnership that hasn’t had much game time together this season. David Turnbull and Ryan Christie will also provide a goal threat from the middle of the park.

Andy Walker’s prediction: 1-3

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