Betting odds for St Johnstone match against Hamilton

Nov 27 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

WHILE St Johnstone were en route to a memorable win at Tynecastle last weekend, tomorrow’s opponents Hamilton were becoming the first team to lose a league match to Falkirk this season.

Both results have strengthened bookmakers’ belief that the Saints will collect maximum points again on Saturday, with Betfred marking them as overwhelming 5/6 favourites to win.

St Johnstone’s odds-on price is thoroughly justified, not only by last week’s performance at Hearts, but also by recent results against tomorrow’s opponents.

In the last 13 meetings, only St Johnstone have managed to win whilst away from home and – having beaten Hamilton 2-0 when the sides met last month – most pundits expect another Saints success, despite Victor Chandler’s tempting 10/3 price posted against the visitors to McDiarmid Park.

Punters may be inclined to consider the merits of Sportingbet’s 23/10 for St Johnstone to win from a one-goal deficit, while Boylesports’ 2/1 for the home side to score in both halves has attracted steady support.

The same applies to Stan James’ 11/5 odds chalked in favour of the Perth side leading at the end of both halves, and to bet365’s 4/7 price for Derek McInnes’ men to open the scoring – the same firm posts 19/20 for the prospect of the game’s opening strike arriving inside the first 28 minutes.

While the majority of punters are optimistic, others expect Hamilton to show a little more fight than they did against Falkirk, with only three points between the sides.

Such logic helps explain the appeal of Betdaq’s 5/2 for the match to finish level and the 10/3 offered by Jaxx.com for St Johnstone to secure three points following a drawn opening period.

Yet the majority of punters appear convinced that they will witness another Saints victory and have been prepasred to take advantage of Ladbrokes’ 6/1 for the home side to win 1-0 and Partybets’ 15/2 for them to register a 2-0 success.

Odds supplied by Betrescue.com