Sports Mole previews Saturday's Scottish League Cup clash between East Kilbride and Kilmarnock, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

East Kilbride host Kilmarnock in the Scottish League Cup on Sunday, with three divisions between the two clubs.

The hosts compete in the Scottish Lowland Football League, with Kilmarnock set to compete in the second tier for the first time since 1993 after being relegated last season.

Match preview

With two Championship opponents in their League Cup group, it is going to be a very tough ask for East Kilbride to finish inside the top two positions and qualify for the knockout stages.

Indeed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kilby have not played a competitive match since December 2020, but they have geared up for this contest with two recent friendlies against Dumbarton and Partick Thistle.

Stephen Aitken's side actually finished second in the Lowland League on points-per-game last season, with champions Kelty Hearts doing what East Kilbride could not in 2017 and 2019 by winning the League Two playoff final to reach the Scottish league proper.

However, for a club which was only founded in May 2010, eight successive finishes in the top eight suggests they have all the makings of a club which can reach that level in the near future.

Testing themselves against a big club like Kilmarnock will be an excellent chance for them to prove that on Saturday.

Eamonn Brophy in axtion for Kilmarnock in August 2020 © Reuters

Moreover, with 12 permanent signings and one loanee already through the door this summer, Kilmarnock may take a bit of time to get going this season as they adjust to life in the Championship.

Despite overseeing relegation at the hands of Dundee in the Premiership playoff final, Tommy Wright has remained in charge of the club as they aim to bounce back at the first time of asking.

In fairness to the 57-year-old, he did only take over in February after Alex Dyer had been sacked, winning five, drawing four and losing seven of his 16 games in charge so far.

The former St Johnstone boss, who won the Scottish Cup with them in 2014, will be expecting a commanding performance from his set of new players - and existing ones - against a team playing three tiers below them.

Team News

Rangers forward Kemar Roofe celebrates scoring against Kilmarnock on August 22, 2020 © Reuters

East Kilbride have undergone major squad turnover themselves, with eight players signed for the club and 12 departing at the time of writing this summer.

Winger Neil McLaughlin, who has joined from Caledonian Braves, scored in a 2-1 defeat to Patrick last weekend so will be hoping to make his mark against another Championship side on Saturday.

Kilmarnock, meanwhile, could only draw 2-2 with Northern Irish side Larne in a friendly at the weekend, suggesting there is plenty of room for improvement for Wright and his players in the coming weeks.

Of the 11 players which started in the 2-1 defeat to Dundee in May, only four remain at the club, including former Nottingham Forest winger Chris Burke, who will be expected to pull up trees in the second tier.

East Kilbride possible starting lineup:
Brennan; Wylde, Saunders, Old, Armstrong; Stevenson, Brady, Millar, Erskine; Vitoria, Malcolm

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Doyle; McGowan, Murray, Stokes, Haunstrup; Burke, Polworth, Murray, Armstrong; McKenzie; Robinson

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We say: East Kilbride 0-2 Kilmarnock

We can envisage Lowland League side East Kilbride making life tougher than expected for Kilmarnock on Saturday.

Killie have made some impressive signings so far this summer, but perhaps lack a natural goalscorer, and it is likely to take time for so many new faces to adapt to each other's game.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Written by
Brett Curtis

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Kilmarnock win with a probability of 64.35%. A draw had a probability of 19.6% and a win for East Kilbride had a probability of 16.05%.

The most likely scoreline for a Kilmarnock win was 0-2 with a probability of 10.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.89%) and 0-1 (9.28%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.13%), while for a East Kilbride win it was 2-1 (4.49%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood.