Scottish Premier League Picks - 18 August 2011

Rob Alexander picks two value bets from the weekend fixtures in the SPL

A winning SPL bet would be nice at this stage, as I will probably be predicting it all season. We were unlucky in the first weekend with Inverness conceding in the last minute but backing Aberdeen away to Hearts last time out couldn't have been a worse decision.

Thankfully quite a few of my other picks have come good so we're sitting with a decent profit of 6.3 points since I started making picks.

Rangers won 2-0 away to Inverness in a decent result for Ally McCoist's side. Despite some controversial refereeing, Rangers deserved to take all three points and close the gap on Motherwell and Celitc at the top of the table. Rangers take on Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday and could go top if Celtic fail to beat St Johnstone at home on the same day.

The other Sunday match sees out of form Hearts make the trip to Kilmarnock, which is a tough place to go at the best of times. It will be made even tougher by Kilmarnock's apparent return to form after their first win under Kenny Shiels (a 4-1 hammering of Hibs).

On Saturday two sides rooted to the bottom of the table take each other on at Pittodrie as Aberdeen face injury depleted Inverness CT. Both teams are yet to win a match after four games and have taken only one point from a possible twelve so far.

Dundee United take on newly promoted Dunfermline Athletic at Tannadice on Saturday and will be full of desire to take all three points despite a bit of a hammering at the hands of Celtic last weekend and no home wins so far in the SPL.

Saturday Pick

Hibernian v St Mirren

The match at Easter Road on Saturday afternoon sees a struggling Hibs side take on a somewhat resurgent St Mirren side in an interesting match between two sides who like to play attractive football.

Hibs have struggled to score goals so far this season, with only Garry O'Connor finding the net on two occasions. St Mirren have also only scored twice this season so this match is unlikely to be high scoring but could be easy on the eye if both sides play well.

My pick for this match is for Hibs to sneak a win with a half goal handicap, home advantage and a stronger forward line my main reasons for this pick.

Bet 1 point on Hibs -0.5 at 2.2 with Victor Chandler.

Sunday Pick

Motherwell v Rangers

Normally I'd avoid any match involving the Old Firm against other sides but with Motherwell in such good form and Rangers still developing under Ally McCoist it seems a perfect time to find a bet in a match like this.

Motherwell are yet to concede a goal this season and have ground out victories away to St Mirren and at home to Hearts in recent weeks. Stuart McCall's side set themselves up as one of the most difficult teams to break down in the league and Rangers will find it tough to do so this Sunday.

I do feel that Rangers will have just too much quality over the 90 minutes (this depends on fatigue from their trip to play Maribor in the Europa League) and will emerge victorious by the odd goal.

For that reason I suggest betting 3 points on Rangers -0.5 at 1.67 with bet365.