Scottish Round-up

After a shocking October-December which saw Partick win just once in 12 matches, the Great Escape really is on for the Jags who have now won four and drawn twice in January. Having grabbed results against Queen of the South, Inverness and Dundee United you can’t even claim the opposition were straight-forward, so they are now very much back in the hunt to maintain their Championship status. They travel to Alloa this week.

Their opponents are facing the prospect of a fifth straight defeat, and have now failed to win the shot count in any of their last 11 games. They look a right mess, and a few results around Christmas shouldn’t persuade us to ignore that data – an away win could well be on the cards in this one.

1pt Partick to beat Alloa 11/8 (Bet365)

Dumbarton are rock bottom of League One, but we’re going to give them a chance this week when they travel to Stranraer. It might sound crazy about a side who haven’t won on the road since going to East Fife all the way back in August, but here we go anyway!

Dumbarton have drawn their last two matches – taking points against Aidrie and Montrose, and those results were both probably reasonable reflections of the data in those games. They gave Brechin a good game the week before and should surely have beaten Forfar earlier in December. Things are definitely looking up.

Stranraar have been struggling themselves – losing to Montrose, East Fife and Forfar already in 2019, plus against Partick in the Cup. They have lost five of their last seven at home, and could swap places with Dumbarton on Satuday if they lose by two goals.

1pt Dumbarton to beat Stranraer at 7/5 (Bet365)

In Scottish League Two, Annan Athletic should surely not be 6/5 to win at Cowdenbeath based on recent performance data – they visitors have been superb since the turn of the year.

They beat Elgin 2-0 at the start of January – winning the shot count 12-6 in that match, but followed up by losing 2-1 at Stirling Albion – a match in which they again won the shot count 11-6, so were perhaps unfortunate there. Next up was a terrific 2-1 win at Edinburgh – winning the shot count 15-11 so that looks a fair result, and saw them face Peterhead in fine spirits – winning that match 3-0. Finally, they drew against Clyde last week, and making it 5/5 where they have won the shot count in the match. Given they have faced the three best sides in the division in that run, they shouldn’t be under-estimated in this one.

Cowdenbeath by contrast have ridden their luck a couple of times. They deserved their win over Berwick at the start of last month, but a 4-1 win at Elgin looked hugely against the run of play – the hosts having 21 shots on goal in that match. Since then they have been comprehensively out-played at Clyde and Queens Park.

2pts Annan to beat Cowdenbeath at 6/5 (General)

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