Scottish Premiership champions Celtic, seeking a domestic treble, face seventh-placed finishers Motherwell in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park on Saturday.
The teams met in the Scottish League Cup final back in November, a game Celtic won 2-0 thanks to goals from James Forrest and Moussa Dembele.
Celtic’s season went on from strength to strength, while Motherwell settled for a mid-table finish, missing out on a European spot by one painful point.
Our football betting expert goes through the best bets ahead of the contest.
Unstoppable Celtic
It certainly seems that way. Riding high, Celtic secured their seventh straight title after crushing Rangers 5-0 at Parkhead back in April, and are an unsurprising 2/9 with Grosvenorsport.com to take the Cup on Saturday. In fact, they have won all of the five Scottish trophies they have contested since Brendan Rodgers was appointed as manager.
Celtic have also dominated the Steelmen in the Premiership this season with two draws and two wins, including a 5-1 thumping at Celtic Park in December.
Rodgers will be pleased with his side’s performance in the Scottish Cup so far, turning over their rivals Rangers in the semi-final by doubling their two-goal lead in the second-half with Dembele and Olivier Ntcham converting their spot-kicks.
Damage limitation
It would be unfair to say that it’s a foregone conclusion, but the odds aren’t exactly in Motherwell’s favour and understandably so.
The Hoops are the reigning holders, beating Aberdeen 2-1 in last year’s cup final, whereas Motherwell haven’t made the final since the 2010-11 season, losing 3-0 in a repeat of this fixture against Celtic.
They are 7/1 with Grosvenorsport.com to lose by the same scoreline again this weekend.
Even though Motherwell have only lost one of their last seven games, during that time they drew 0-0 twice on the road against St Johnstone and Ross County, as well as suffering a 5-1 home defeat to the Saints.
Their inconsistency doesn’t inspire confidence and they are as short as 13/20 to be losing at half-time, so I’m happy to look elsewhere for value.
A better option at 2/1 is for Celtic to win and both teams to score – Motherwell have shown their determination in the competition so far and their 3-0 win over Aberdeen in the semi-final suggests they could well find the net at Hampden Park.
‘Well have also kept a clean sheet in five of their last seven games and a low scoring game could be on the cards, meaning the 13/20 on offer for less than 2.5 goals could represent a bit of value for punters.
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