Saturday 14th April 2018 Kick off 1215hrs Motherwell v Aberdeen Football – Scotland – Scottish Cup The first if this year’s Scottish Cup semi finals takes place at Hampden on Saturday lunchtime with a couple of teams who have recent experience of playing in showpiece finals. Motherwell were beaten 2-0 by Celtic in the final of the League Cup back in November whilst Aberdeen lost out in both domestic cup competitions last season to the same opponent. Although there are 24 points separating the two clubs in the league, it promises to be a very close encounter and the other meetings between the two only serve to underline that.
Motherwell have enjoyed two excellent cup runs thus far this season and it will have cushioned the blow of finishing outside the top six which was the aim at the beginning of their campaign. Their run to the league cup final included wins over Rangers and Aberdeen so they will come into this match full of confidence and feeling capable of turning the Dons over once again. Thus far in the Scottish Cup they have defeated all Scottish Premiership sides with wins over Hamilton, Dundee and Hearts – the latter of those victories was definitely their most impressive and further evidence of how well suited this team are to cup competition football. Their approach to the game ensures they can compete physically with any team and that is often a leveller, whilst they are usually well organised with a threat going forward. Their form coming into this one has been rather mixed but draws at home to Celtic and Rangers within the last month have compensated somewhat for their lack of victories.
Aberdeen have a fight on their hands to finish in second spot for another season but it’s probably fair to say that most would give up that achievement if it meant they were able to clinch the Scottish Cup and win their first silverware since 2014. They have come close on a number of occasions only to fall short and the criticism levelled at the Dons is they cannot quite get over the finishing line. Now they have reached the last four of a cup competition yet again, they have another opportunity to get that monkey off their backs and it could be argued that it’s as good an opportunity as they have had in recent times. Motherwell over either Celtic or Rangers in the semi final was always the preferable draw and Celtic are not playing as well as they were this time last year. That said, and if last week’s defeat to Hearts is anything to go by, Aberdeen will have to pick their own performances levels up if they are to go all the way and lift the trophy in May. The Dons have seen off St Mirren and Dundee United from the Championship with relative ease, but had to go to penalties in a replay to get by Kilmarnock. They are sure to face another stiff test on Saturday.
Motherwell v Aberdeen Betting Tip
In their four meetings played already this season, the current record reads two wins apiece. In addition to being victorious in the quarter final of the League Cup, Motherwell won 2-0 at Pittodrie back in November whilst Aberdeen have won both league games at Fir Park. It’s indicative of how well matched the two teams are in terms of one of games, despite Aberdeen being a much more consistent outfit – as evidenced by their league position. It sets it up perfectly for Saturday, however, and with the stakes as high as they are, it will be the team who handles the pressure better. Motherwell have not won a game since the quarter final at home to Hearts but that is in keeping with their season as they have proven on plenty of occasions they are able to perform in the cup matches. Aberdeen turned in a really poor performance against Hearts last week and I’m inclined to think that would be more of a concern than Motherwell not winning in their last five.
Although the Dons won the latest league meeting, played at the beginning of the month, Saturday is bound to be a completely different encounter. It will be a real physical battle and as such, I’m leaning towards Motherwell to get the job done. They may require extra time or penalties in order to book their place in the final next month so back them to qualify as opposed to win in the 90 minutes.
Motherwell to qualify 6/4 @ Bet Victor
