By George France

The Scottish Gas Scottish Cup is back this weekend for the fourth round. There are some exciting fixtures to look forward to as well as a few potential upsets.

Tomorrow evening Brechin City host Hearts at Glebe Park to open this weekend’s fixtures. Brechin of the Highland League, after defeating Cowdenbeath 4-1 away from home in the previous round, look to cause an upset to Neil Critchley’s Premiership side who are currently placed 11th and have only seen one win in five games. The match will be live on the BBC.

On Saturday, most matches kick off at 15:00 with Dunfermline playing host to Stenhousemuir and relegated Livingston travelling to Dingwall to face Ross County. Sixth-tier side Clydebank drew a dream trip to Easter Road to face Hibs while Airdrie, who are sat bottom of the Scottish Championship, travel to the rock to face League One side Dumbarton. East of Scotland Premier Division side Musselburgh also get their big day out as they’re scheduled to face John Rankin’s struggling Championship side Hamilton at New Douglas Park.

Easter Road stadium (Ross Parker-SNS Group via Gettyimages)

Stephen Robinson’s St. Mirren who have lost their last four matches head south to Dumfries to meet League One’s sixth-place Queen of the South. Montrose travel to Glasgow’s southside to face Queen’s Park, Lowland League side Broxburn Athletic host Ayr United, and League One side Cove Rangers take on struggling League Two side Forfar Athletic.

Opportunity for upset as Aberdeen who haven’t won since early November in 12 matches have to travel the short 1-hour 45-minute distance to Borough Briggs to take on Elgin City. Elgin defeated Kelty Hearts in the previous round 3-2 and are currently situated in third place in League Two.

Two Premiership fixtures take place on Saturday. The first at 15:00 takes place at McDiarmid Park in Perth where last place St. Johnstone play host to fifth place Motherwell. St. Johnstone have won one match in 12 whereas Motherwell have won one in seven.

Scottish Cup trophy when Celtic won the final in May 2024 (Visionhaus via Gettyimages)

The final match of the day will be shown live on Premier Sports at 17:30 with Derek McInnes’s ninth-place Kilmarnock travelling to Parkhead to face the current cup holders and league leaders Celtic. Brendan Rodgers’ side are looking to add to their Scottish Cup tally having won 42 overall including the previous two years. The East End side are hoping to bounce back to winning ways after dropping points at Dens Park to Dundee in a three-all draw through the week. Kilmarnock have played Celtic twice so far this season and failed to score in both with the Hoops having an aggregate score of six goals to nil and not having lost to Kilmarnock since December 2023.

Celtic vs Kilmarnock 4 August (Rob Casey-SNS Group via Gettyimages)

Two matches are to be played on Sunday. An all-Championship tie which includes the hosts and league leaders Falkirk battling it out against sixth-place Raith Rovers. The last time the two sides met was December in the league where Falkirk defeated Raith 3-0. Barry Robson will be looking to gain revenge for his side, this time in the form of the Scottish Cup. The match will be shown live on Premier Sports.

Later on Sunday at 14:15 the Highland League side Fraserburgh travel to Ibrox to play Rangers whose current form leaves questions to be asked. Protests are currently taking place at Ibrox with fans unhappy with the board and recent results but in 2018 Fraserburgh hosted Rangers in the Highlands where the Govan side won 3-0 and Fraserburgh received a red card late in the match. The match can be found live on BBC.

Rangers’ ultras the ‘Union Bears’ walking out in against St Johnstone (Ian MacNicol via Gettyimages)

On Monday the final match of the fourth round is the Dundee derby where Dundee FC will host Dundee United at 20:00. The two sides last met just two weeks ago in the league where Dens Park was the venue again, but Dundee United’s Sam Dalby scored late on to win the derby. Dundee will be looking to reclaim the bragging rights of the town and progress to the next stage.

The match will be shown live on Premier Sports and thereafter the draw for the next round will take place.

Scottish Cup weekend promises for exciting games and potential upsets