Stranraer vs Livingston Predictions

Livingston will travel south as they are hosted by Stranraer at Stair Park during the week. Can the hosts emulate their latest outing?

Stranraer enjoyed a huge victory over the weekend against Lowland League side Berwick Rangers as they thrashed the English club 6-0 in their second League Cup game. The Blues had no trouble at any point of the game, with Cameron Elliott opening the scoring within the first 20 minutes. Jordan Allan, Connor McManus and Mark Stewart would all chip in and ensure that Stranraer were 4-0 up at half-time. James Hilton scored goal number 5 in the 63^rd minute, with McManus doubling his tally on the day with 15 minutes left.

This impressive result comes off the back of a narrow defeat to Falkirk in their opening game of the group stage. Moreover, Stephen Farrell’s side struggled during their pre-season, as they only managed to draw once with BSC Glasgow, losing to Annan Athletic, Blyth Spartans and Coleraine.

Similar to their next opponents, Livingston were also able to pick up their first competitive win when they beat Ayr United 2-1 at home during last week’s game. It was Livi’s 2^nd fixture of the group stage, with Aymen Souda putting Gary Holt’s side in front in the first 25 minutes. Andy Murdoch pulled one back for the Honest Men early on in the 2^nd half, but Ricki Lamie was able to seal all 3 points for the hosts with a left-footed shot inside the box.

Despite drawing with Sered and losing to Paksi SE, the West Lothian club have now racked up 4 consecutive games without knowing defeat. The cub went on to beat Tranmere Rovers and Alloa Athletic before their opening game of this tournament saw them draw with Falkirk, as well as taking the bonus point.

Livi will want to keep up their current form whilst Stranraer would also like to continue to improve theirs, which would then give them the option to potentially push through to the next stage of the League Cup. The Blues’ recent win will certainly have given them that extra boost of confidence that they need to challenge Livi, and it’s hard to tell whether or not Holt’s men can deny their hosts the chance of taking all 3 points. We’re going to back a a 1-1 draw as the final outcome, as we feel Livingston won’t be able to do enough to take all 3 points.