Dundee United v Hamilton Betting Tip Dundee United – 25 May 2017

United can take a crucial first leg lead

Scottish Premiership Betting Tips

25th May 2017 Kickoff: 1945hrs Dundee United v Hamilton – Football – Scotland – Premiership Playoff Hamilton’s reward, if you can call it that, for winning on Saturday is entering the final of the Premiership playoffs and a two legged tie against Dundee United. This final may not carry the same prestige or financial gains that the English equivalent does but it is just as important to both of these clubs as they look to play in Scotland’s top flight next season. Hamilton are no stranger to this format having earned their Premiership place with a defeat of Hibernian in the 2013/14 version whilst Dundee United will be looking to bounce back at the first time of asking having suffered relegation in 2016.

Having been relegated to Scotland’s second tier, there was a massive rebuilding job undertaken at Tannadice starting with the appointment of a new manager in Ray McKinnon. He had to overturn a full squad of players virtually but United got off to a very positive start in their question for promotion with 11 wins in their first 17 league games. It was the middle part of the campaign which essentially ruled out a push for automatic promotion when they could win only one of 10 games between January and March. The Arabs had actually won only four games in the league since Christmas day which is not the sort of form you’d hope heading into the playoffs. Having finished in third they have already faced Morton (who finished fourth) and Falkirk who were one place above them in the table. A comfortable win over Morton was followed by an extremely hard fought victory over Falkirk which should have them spot on for this first leg against Hamilton on Thursday.

There’s absolutely no respite for Hamilton in their bid to stave off relegation for a second time in the space of a week. Fresh from a deserved win at home to Dundee on Saturday which meant they finished above bottom club Inverness, they now face the prospect of two cup finals against Dundee United in the space of three days. Hamilton are working with the smallest budget in the Premiership so it’s probably no surprise to see them in the mix for relegation having punched above their weight for the last couple of seasons. With just seven wins in the league all season it has been a real struggle but five of those successes have come since the end of January which is some source of hope heading into these encounters. Their hopes have not been helped, however, with the news that their influential captain Micky Devlin will miss out with a serious knee injury picked up in the win over Dundee last weekend.

Dundee United v Hamilton Betting Tip

These games are usually decided on fine margins, particularly the first legs with both teams not prepared to give much away knowing there will be a return match in less than 72 hours. There will be pressure on both teams as United – despite being in the league below – are a much bigger club than their opponents and have an expectation of playing in the top flight. Hamilton, on the other hand, are looking to preserve their Premiership status and relegation could mean some big changes ahead both on and off the field.

United’s home form at Tannadice has been very strong throughout the season with just one defeat in the league all season, that coming against Hibernian who were comfortable champions. Their main problem has been the number of draws they have collected with six in total, but it’s still a formidable record they will take confidence from. Hamilton’s away form has been absolutely wretched and the key reason as to why they have found themselves embroiled in this battle for survival. One win all season the road and 11 defeats is always going to land you in trouble and the Accies’ players have to find a way to trying to improve on that if they are to get a result. I’m not confident they will be able to, though, and with Dundee United just finding their form at the right moment I fancy them to take a lead into the second leg on Sunday.

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