Halloween League Cup quarters

By: Ian Rose | October 30th, 2007

There are eight teams left in the CIS (aka Scottish League) Cup, and tomorrow night, as the little kids play dress-up-and-beg-for-tooth-decay, they will be wittled down to four. There are some familiar sides (like the top three in the SPL: Celtic, Rangers and Dundee United), some overachieving mid-range teams (like Aberdeen, Inverness and Motherwell and Hearts) and one lower-division spoiler (Hamilton) in the mix. Here are tomorrow’s matches:

Aberdeen v. Inverness CT
After disappointing starts, both of these sides are more concerned with a good long cup run than they might want to admit. Both have too often been bridesmaids (aka quarterfinalists) but haven’t been to the semis in a cup for a while. Though my heart is always with Caley Thistle, we’ve never beaten Aberdeen and I don’t see us starting tomorrow. I’ll tip Dons for a 2-1 home win. Prove me wrong, Caley!

Celtic v. Hearts
I have no such heart-vs-head qualms about this match. My head says “Celtic wins”. My heart says “Hearts lose”. Celtic 3-0.

Dundee United v. Hamilton Academical
God, I love the word “Academical”. It doesn’t seem right, but I love it just the same. I’ll miss seeing so much of it, because I see the Tangerines ending Hamilton’s giant-killing streak and continuing their undefeated home record. Beating Rangers this past weekend has to have them believing they can take Hamilton, and this match might well be repeated next season in the league, as Hamilton looks on track to be promoted. 3-1 United.

Motherwell v. Rangers
Rangers have stumbled domestically even as they excel in Europe. Motherwell has made a habit of surprising wins, such as their two victories over Hibs, one in the league and one in the last round of this cup. This is a hard one to call, because I really like Mark McGhee’s ‘Well to finish high in the SPL this season … but I’ll stick with the ‘Gers to step up, overcome their loss at Dundee United, and move on to the semis. Old Firm cup derby, anyone? 0-2 to Rangers.

Considering my predictive slump of late, I have virtually assured the rise of Inverness, Hearts, Hamilton and Motherwell by predicting them to lose. Okay, maybe not Hearts.