Scottish Cup
2008-01-30 - Rangers vs Hearts
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Scottish League Cup Semi-final
Hampden Park
Kickoff 19:45 GMT
GLASGOW RANGERS
Rangers are the leaders of the Scottish Premier Division as they continue their assualt on 4 competitions. While the UEFA Cup is likely to be a step too far for the team, a domestic treble is surely something Walter Smith considers as a possibility.
Rangers lead the division by 4 points from Old Firm rivals Celtic and have a 17-2-3 overall record with 52 goals scored and 17 conceded. Their away record is 6-2-2 with 18 goals scored and 12 conceded. Rangers have beaten East Fife (0-4) and Motherwell (1-2) both away from home in previous rounds.
Rangers are on very solid form with 8 wins from their last 9 games in all competitions since being knocked out of the Champions League. They have not been beaten by a domestic side in 13 games since Dundee United managed a 2-1 with at Tannadice.
Rangers seem to win games by doing what is sufficient and therefore many of their away games see them win by the odd goal. They will also be encouraged to rely on their defence as they have kept 4 clean sheets in their previous 5 games. Rangers have won 7 games in a row in all competitions.
Kevin Thompson is out with an injury and Alan Hutton is also missing as he is currently in talks with Tottenham over a potential move. Hutton's spot is likely to be taken by Steven Whittaker.
HEARTS
Hearts have had a season to forget so far and currently sit in 9th position in the table. They will need to start a sequence of winning games if they wish to occupy a spot in the top 6 when the league splits in half. Their overall record this season is 7-6-11 with 34 goals scored and 40 conceded.
Away from home Hearts are 3-3-6 with 14 goals scored and 22 conceded. Hearts have beaten Stirling Albion away (0-2), Dunfermline at home (4-1) and surprised Celtic away (0-2) to reaach this semi final.
Hearts have managed to win 2 of their last 3 games in all competitions which has stopped a run of 10 games without a win before that. Hearts did manage to beat Aberdeen away from home this weekend but they had lost 4 in a row away from Tynecastle before that and had failed to win in 7 away games in all competitions.
Steven Banks and Robbie Nielson both have knocks but are expected to play. Deividas Cesnauskis and Andrew Driver are also in the squad. Andrius Velicka is looking likely to make the squad also.
HEAD TO HEAD
Hearts and Rangers have met twice this season with each winning 1 game at home. Hearts' win is their only one in 9 games against Rangers.
Rangers can also boast that they have won 6 of the last 9 games against Hearts. Last season Rangers won 3 of 4 games with Hearts while the other was a draw.
PREDICTION :
Rangers have a very strong chance of wrapping up this competition with Celtic already out of the way and Walter Smith will be aiming to do so.
Hearts have been inconsistant all season, and while I think there is always a chance that they will turn up and play really well, I will favour Rangers at decent prices for accumulators to pull through.
The Pick :
RANGERS 2-1 HEARTS
