Dunfermline vs Ayr Predictions

An in-form Dunfermline will host a struggling Ayr United to East End Park as both teams continue to push for promotion in the Scottish Championship. Who will come out on top?

After an electric start to their season that saw them climb all the way to the top of the Championship, Ayr United now find themselves in a bit of a slump following a shaky few weeks. Ian McCall’s side were flying high in Scotland’s 2^nd division, with striker Lawrence Shankland leading the Honest Men’s front-line, but a run of bad games in December plunged them into inconsistency.

The South Ayrshire side are now in 4^th place and are 14 points off the top of the table behind league leaders Ross County, and despite the gap, they are still in promotion places- although it would mean having to go through play-offs. Nonetheless, it’s an impressive achievement when you take into consideration that Ayr were in League One last season, winning that division with ease.

After losing their first couple of games this year, United suffered an embarrassing defeat to non-league Auchinleck Talbot in the Scottish Cup, but they did manage to bounce back to beat 2^nd place Dundee United. However, the Honest Men have picked up just 4 points in their last 6 games. They were beaten by Inverness CT before defeating Alloa Athletic and drawing with Greenock Morton and losing to Dunfermline Athletic, Ross County and Falkirk last week.

This is a classic promotion battle between 2 teams that completely contrast each other in their recent form. Whilst Ayr United had an amazing start to the season, Dunfermline have had more of a slow-burning league campaign, and the Pars could be on their way to the Scottish Premiership next season. We’re going to back the hosts to win this Friday evening’s game 2-0, as they have an incredible run of games and the home advantage to back them going into this fixture.