voldemort

Aberdeen home SPL form: W D W W W D
Top SPL Scorer: Lee Miller, 7
Hearts away SPL form: L L L D D L
Top SPL Scorer: Andrius Velicka, 9
Boss Jimmy Calderwood demanded a response from his toiling players ahead of Tuesday’s Scottish Cup Fourth Round replay with Falkirk. He would get it, with interest, as the 3-1 scoreline failed to convey how rampant the Dons were on the night.
Indeed, Pittodrie is in the grip of cup fever at the moment, with the SPL visit of Hearts sandwiched between that win over Falkirk and the CIS Cup semi-final against Dundee United. The United match will offer a chance for the Dons to avenge a 3-0 defeat to the Arabs in their last SPL game.
Calderwood will be without Sone Aluko for up to six-weeks with a hamstring pull and Preston target Michael Hart is still sidelined. The squad is bolstered by new signings Stuart Duff and former De Graafschap manDavid Bus.
To say 10th placed Hearts are underachieving would be an understatement, but the Jambos seem to at least have Aberdeen sussed this term. The first match here ended 1-1 before Hearts ran riot in a 4-1 November victory.
Hearts are faring less well than their hosts in cup competition, though, with a midweek CIS date with Rangers looming following Scottish Cup heartache at the hands of Motherwell. Deividas Cesnauskis is hoping to overcome a virus, with Christian Nade (pictured, angry) pushing for a starting place.
Both teams have been playing entertaining football of late, with some key players finding form. Hearts need to start scaling the table, but Pittodrie is a tough away trip and a score draw could be on the cards.
Prediction: 2-2
Hibs home SPL form: L D D D L W
Top SPL Scorer: Steven Fletcher, 7
Gretna away SPL form: L L W D L L
Top SPL Scorer: Kenny Deuchar, 3

There’s clearly a lot of work for recent gafferial appointment Mixu Paatelainen to do - least of all repairing his team’s shattered confidence following a run of poor form that has left them in 8th place.
However, Hibs have a track record of rebuilding quickly - not unlike the T1000 - and the visit of rock-bottom Gretna comes at a good time. Returning hero Ian Murray looked the part at left-back last week, whilst Abdessalam Benjelloun and Steven Fletcher will look to start hitting form after returning from injury troubles.
Goalie Yves Ma-Kalambay, meanwhile, must atone for his fateful blunder in the 1-0 Edinburgh derby defeat last week with a solid show.
Gretna took a two-goal lead en route to a 4-2 defeat during their last visit to Easter Road. More worryingly, perhaps, is the fact that the scorers that day – Colin McMenamin and Fabian Yantorno – won’t be in action this time. McMenamin has absconded to First Division Dundee and Yantorno is out for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage.
Gavin Skelton, though, has boosted the Borders men by turning down a move to St Mirren.
I’m fed up calling Gretna plucky. Hibs are far better than their league standing and the blow of losing Yantorno could see Gretna get their first real mauling in a while.
Prediction: 4-0

Kilmarnock home SPL form: L W D L L W
Top SPL Scorer: Colin Nish, 7
Dundee Utd away SPL form: L L W L D L
Top SPL Scorer: Noel Hunt, Barry Robson, 10

Kilmarnock won’t have much time to recuperate after the visit of Dundee United before the rescheduled Scottish Cup tie with Airdrie United on Monday.
A Martin Corrigan own-goal last week was the undoing of Jim Jeffries' men as they went down 1-0 at CelticPark. Killie kept it tight and put up a decent fight, but they threatened little against the lackluster Hoops.
Alan Combe has been the best performer for the RugbyPark side this season, leading his gaffer to call for new Scotland boss George Burley to hand the 33-year-old an unlikely Scotland cap.
The veteran goalie will have to continue his fine form against the Arabs, who are back up to 3rd place after a 3-0 demolition of Aberdeen last week. Skipper Barry Robson may not be with the club come February 1 if the rumours are to be believed, but the United fans are nonetheless loving every minute of his career-defining season.
Two late goals saw Killie claim a 2-1 win in August, before United gained revenge in November. August was a long time ago, but the diligent home side could Killie off any outbreak of football here and force a stalemate.
Prediction: 0-0

Motherwell home SPL form: W L W W D W
Top SPL Scorer: David Clarkson, 8
Inverness away SPL form: L L W W L W
Top SPL Scorer: Marius Niculae, Don Cowie, 6
It can only be good news for ’Well that manager Mark McGhee lost out to George Burley in the race for the Scotland post. The popular boss has been applauded for turning Motherwell into top-four challengers and his sensitive handling of the Phil O’Donnell aftermath.
However, the FirPark side must now put both situations behind them and set about regaining top form. They scraped past Hearts in the midweek Scottish Cup replay. Both of the Hearts games were impassioned cup classics, but the Steelmen have only played one SPL game in January due to postponements – a 3-1 loss at St Mirren.
Caley have won three of their last four away games in the league. They started the season as whipping boys, but Craig Brewster is another manager who has changed the fortunes of his side.
After some great form, the Highlanders were eliminated 3-0 at the hands of Hibs in the Scottish Cup and should have taken something from last week’s 1-0 home loss to Rangers.
Thus, it’s hard to tell what kind of form Brewster’s men are going to produce from this point. Having lifted themselves clear of relegation trouble, do they have the ambition to push on for a top-six place? Maybe, but we won’t find out tomorrow.
Prediction: 1-1

Rangers home SPL form: W W W W W W
Top SPL Scorer: Daniel Cousin, 8
St Mirren away SPL form: W D L D W L
Top SPL Scorer: Billy Mehmet, 4
We learned three things from the 6-0 midweek cup pummeling of East Stirling: Kris Boyd, Kris Boyd and Kris Boyd. Well, the return of Thomas Buffel and the outstanding performance of forgotten man Alan Gow are worth a mention – but hat-trick-grabbing Boyd is surely the man to replace want-away Daniel Cousin.
Perhaps not, as Cousin’s move to Fulham is yet to be finalised and, if it is, Walter Smith looks set to swoop for Aston Villa’s Luke Moore. Lee McCulloch and Alan Hutton are free from suspension, but Kevin Thomson is out for six-weeks.
With Billy Mehmet leading an inconsistent frontline, defender Ian Maxwell has taken it upon himself to score three goals in two SPL games. The 3-0 cup win over Dumbarton in between means that the Buddies have won three-in-a-row.
However, we’ve seen false starts from Gus MacPherson’s men already this season. They might clamp down on Rangers for a time, but the league leaders have too much across the park for the Paisley outfit.
Prediction: 3-0
Falkirk home SPL form: D W W W L W
Top SPL Scorer: Michael Higdon, Pedro Moutinho, 7
Celtic away SPL form: W L D W L W
Top SPL Scorer: Scott MacDonald, 14
Falkirk were dealt a massive blow in the 3-1 Scottish Cup defeat at Aberdeen, when on-loan Newcastle ’keeper Tim Krul dislocated his shoulder whilst saving a Scott Severin penalty.
The rest of the team will be feeling bruised – albeit only psychologically – as the in-form Bairns were completely outplayed by the Dons. Aberdeen have been Falkirk’s bogey team in recent seasons, though, so John Hughes will be hoping to write that one off.
Celtic, too, have taken something of an ego battering of late. Rangers have usurped the reigning champions at the top of the SPL table, while Gordon Stachan’s men are producing patchy form.
The defensive crisis could also be back on, too, just as it looked over. New recruit Andreas Hinkel is struggling after limping out of his debut, Bobo Balde is in Africa and Lee Naylor is set for talks with Portsmouth.
However, Shunsuke Nakamura is back and vowed this week to score with a header, of all things. Maybe he will; stranger things have happened. A win for Falkirk would be strangest of all, though, as Gordon Strachan’s men have scored 8 and conceded 1 during their two league wins over Falkirk so far this term.
Prediction: 1-3

source:goal.com