Thursday, July 17

[monks data]

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Scottish League Cup clash between Cove Rangers and Falkirk, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Cove Rangers and Falkirk, both aiming to extend their winning starts in Group A, will clash on Saturday afternoon in the Scottish League Cup. 

The hosts defeated The Spartans FC 1-0 in their opening group fixture, while the visitors demolished Brechin City 7-0 in their first match.

---

Match preview

Cove Rangers, who were relegated from the Scottish Championship in 2022-23, have battled to secure their promotion from the third division in recent seasons. 

They narrowly missed out on the playoffs in 2023-24 before placing second in 2024-25, where they were narrowly defeated 2-1 on aggregate by Airdrieonians in the promotion/relegation playoff final. 

Paul Hartley, in charge since January 2023, will be hoping to finally steer Cove Rangers back to the Championship in 2025-26, and a positive pre-season built a strong foundation to build upon this term. 

Cove Rangers followed their encouraging pre-season with a 1-0 victory over The Spartans in their opening match of the competitive campaign, securing three points in Group A of the Scottish League Cup. 

Drawn alongside Brechin City, The Spartans, Queen's Park and Falkirk, Cove Rangers may fancy their chances of continuing their winning start and securing progression from the group - which would provide an even greater building block for their upcoming league campaign. 

A win on Saturday could be particularly crucial in their hopes of topping Group A, as Falkirk are certainly the toughest opposition given they are the only Scottish Premiership side in the group. 

Falkirk were relegated from the Premiership in 2023-24 but immediately bounced back with a superb Championship season in 2024-25, amassing 73 points from 36 fixtures to win the title. 

Looking ahead to a Premiership term where they will be aiming to avoid dropping back into the second tier, Falkirk will be hoping for a successful Group A campaign to build confidence and belief ahead of their Scottish Premiership opener against Dundee United. 

The Bairns demonstrated their quality in their opening Group A fixture against Brechin City, running out 7-0 winners thanks to goals from Scott Arfield (two), Dylan Tait (three), Ross MacIver and Alfie Agyeman. 

Aiming to maintain that victorious start, Falkirk will look to replicate the results from their recent meetings with Cove Rangers, having won 5-1, 1-0 and 4-0 in their last three encounters.

Cove Rangers Scottish League Cup form:

Falkirk Scottish League Cup form:

---

Team News

Cove Rangers will be without David Eguaibor for Saturday's matchday two encounter after the striker was sent off for an accumulation of yellow cards in the opening fixture. 

In Eguaibor's absence, Grady McGrath could start alongside Mitchel Megginson in attack, while the remainder of the side that won the opening match against The Spartans is expected to start.

Falkirk were exceptional in their Scottish League Cup opening game against Brechin City FC as they ran out 7-0 winners, and an unchanged team is expected to be named on Saturday as a result. 

Brad Spencer could be the only change for the Bairns as the midfielder was taken off at half-time for MacIver, who went on to score in stoppage time of the second half.

Cove Rangers possible starting lineup:

Suman; Bisland, Parker, Darge, Ochmanski; Doyle, Strachan, Glass, Fyvie; McGrath, Megginson

Falkirk possible starting lineup:

Hogarth; Adams, Neilson, Henderson, Mackie; MacIver, Arfield; Agyeman, Tait, Miller; Graham

---

We say: Cove Rangers 0-4 Falkirk

 

Falkirk recorded a remarkable 7-0 win in their opening match - demonstrating their quality - and given they have 5-1, 1-0 and 4-0 in their last three meetings with Cove Rangers, we expect another significant victory for the Bairns.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

---

---

 

---

ID:577504:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect6123:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

---

Collect / Create New Data