Scottish Premiership: Who Is Winning The Race For The Top Six?
Kai Watson 
It is fast approaching crunch time in the Scottish Premiership, with the league about to split into two and plenty to play for at both ends of the table.
Despite slipping up at the weekend, it is only a matter of time before Celtic win another title but all eyes are on the final top-six spot this weekend, with Hearts favourites with to cling onto that top-half spot before the split, despite also losing at the weekend.
Our resident Scottish football tips expert, Kai Watson, has had a closer look at the race for the top six ahead of a big weekend in the Scottish Premiership.
There’s one more game left before the Scottish Premiership splits in two. The top six will play each other one more time to decide the European spots and the bottom six will play one more time to decide the relegation and relegation play-off spots.
The race for sixth is incredibly exciting and tight going into this weekend's Scottish Premiership fixtures. A 1-0 loss to Dundee United on Sunday still leaves Hearts in sixth place but now means that three teams have the capability to take that spot come the end of the upcoming weekend.
Motherwell’s 2-0 loss against Kilmarnock leaves them in eight, level on points with St. Mirren but behind on goal difference by nine goals. St. Mirren also lost at the weekend, losing 2-0 to relegation candidates Dundee so neither of the three sides gained any advantage going into the last pre-split matchday.
St. Mirren, on paper, have the easiest tie of the three sides as they host tenth place Ross County. Not only does the table dictate this but the Dingwall based side have lost their last three games without scoring a single goal.
Stephen Robinson’s side haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last five but hammered Kilmarnock 5-1 in their last home game and the one before that they put on an impressive display despite losing 5-2 to Celtic. Their last two home performances and Ross County’s poor form makes them the favourites to take the last top six spot, in my opinion.
What makes this even more exciting though is the fact that Motherwell host Hearts at Fir Park in the other game involving the sides battling for that last spot. In the other matchups this season, Motherwell won 3-1 in North Lanarkshire at the start of the season and Hearts won 1-0 at Tynecastle in January. Historically, the home side tends to do better in these fixtures so playing in front of their own fans could be massive for Michael Wimmer’s side.
In terms of form, Motherwell lost their last two when they had the chance to put themselves in the driving seat. Before that though, they drew with St. Mirren, having previously beaten Rangers and Dundee. On the other hand, the ‘Well haven’t kept a clean sheet for 11 matches and have struggled to get any of their strikers in goalscoring form.
Hearts have lost their last two matches without scoring a goal and conceding four in the process. Prior to that they had beaten Ross County and Dundee with an Edinburgh Derby defeat at the beginning of March rounding off their last five matches. They will also be missing a strong performer in James Wilson after his red card against Dundee United on Sunday.
Motherwell are without 11 first team players through injury, that’s right, ELEVEN! They have a full starting team currently out injured yet could still make the top six with a victory against Hearts and the hope that St. Mirren can’t beat Ross County.
If this match needed anything else to make it more interesting then there’s the fact that the last 12 times Motherwell have faced Hearts, there’s been no draws!
I have St. Mirren as the favourites due to them having the ‘easier’ fixture and playing at home. It’s in Hearts’ hands though, if they win, they keep the last top six spot but anything other than that, Motherwell and St. Mirren could overtake them.
Who do you think is the favourite with sports betting sites to make the top six and who do you think will actually take that last spot?
Scottish Premiership Top Six Odds
We've heard what Kai thinks, but what do the football betting markets say?
