Hamilton VS Dundee Match Prediction

In 20 matches, the tie has been very evenly contested.  Dundee United have eight wins to Hamilton's six with six draws also being played out.  Here's a look at the last five meetings between the pair:

May 25, 2017: United 0-0 Academical
Apr 24, 2016: United 1-3 Academical
Feb 13, 2016: Academical 0-0 United
Nov 28, 2015: United 1-2 Academical
Aug 15, 2015: Academical 4-0 United

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Hamilton vs Dundee United Prediction

Dundee United have left it all to do here, and they just won't have enough to take Hamilton's Premiership slot.

Correct Score Prediction: Hamilton Academical 2-1 Dundee United

Hamilton vs Dundee United Betting Tips and Odds

Bet365 have the following odds available for this match:

Hamilton Academical are at 5/4 to win, a draw is at 11/5, and a Dundee United win is at 11/5.

A 1-0 Hamilton win could bring you 16/1 odds if correct at the final whistle.

Reason:

The bookmakers have Hamilton as favorites here due to the fact that they are the home side and have a slight advantage after holding the score at 0-0 away in the first leg.  They also are the 'bigger' side as they are defending their Premiership status.  

Team News

Martin Canning will be without center back Michael Devlin due to injury and attacking midfielder Steven Boyd is out as well.

Key Man

Veteran defensive midfielder Massimo Donati, now at the ripe age of 36, sits in the center of the back line for Hamilton these days as cover for injuries.  Donati, a former Scottish champion with Celtic and a man that's been on the books with AC Milan before, has the experience and know-how to help his side pull through what is sure to be a tough situation.  But they have passed the toughest part of the test now, and will feel confident of getting the job done come their home leg.  It's imperative for him to be a leader on the pitch to keep his teammates calm.  He's also capable of a goal or two, he's scored twice and assisted twice this season, but his experience should prove vital at some point along the way.

Team Form

Hamilton have a draw and four losses in their last five matches.  They lost 2-1 away to Inverness and then 0-1 at home to Motherwell before losing 3-2 at Ross County.  They then defeated Dundee (not United) on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season to ensure themselves of a chance to face Dundee United in this playoff tie.  The first leg ended 0-0 on Thursday at Dundee United.

Expected Line-up: 3-5-2

Team News

Ray McKinnon has no injuries to worry about, but he will without striker Simon Murray after he was red carded in the first leg of the tie.

Key Man

With Murray being ruled out of the second leg, all of the attacking hopes will likely fall on the shoudlers of central midfielder Tony Andreu.  The 29 year old Frenchman, though, is the club's leading scorer and has shown to be quite capable this season.  He led the side with 13 goals and four assists from midfield in the league season down in the Championship.  But curiously enough, the former Norwich man hasn't found the back of the net in the playoffs as of yet.  That will need to change here, and he will have to be superb on the ball in order to give his side a shot at stealing a result at Hamilton.

Team Form

Dundee United have two draws and three wins in their last five matches.  They had to come through Morton United to get a chance to play for this round.  They defeated Morton 1-2 in the away leg before winning at home 3-0 to move on to face Falkirk.  They drew the first leg at home 2-2 before winning the away leg 1-2 to advance. The first leg of this tie was played on Thursday, and they drew 0-0 at home.

Expected Line-up: 4-5-1

Hamilton Academical finished their regular season on a big high after losing consistently toward the end of the season. With their dramatic thumping of Dundee FC by four goals, they ensured they\'d at least have a chance to remain in Scotland\'s top flight for another season via the promotion/relegation playoffs. This system creates a lot of drama as it\'s two sides that come from opposite sides of the coin. One side will have a little more quality but have had less confidence due to poor results (Hamilton in this case), while the other side will have less quality but will be riding a high (Dundee). This presents an awesome matchup betwene sides dueling over a place in the big time. And make no mistake about it, this is no little prize. The winners get to go toe-to-toe with Celtic next season, and that will not be something any of them will want to pass by.

Dundee United have failed to beat Hamilton in their last five meetings, with three of those being losses. A draw here gets them to penalty kicks at best, so they need to reverse their record of late against Academical here.