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League Cup Group Stage Draw


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Although the season has just ended, the draw for the group stage of the 2024/25 Premier Sports Cup takes place at 1pm tomorrow.

The pots for the draw have been confirmed:

 

Quote

Pot 1
1 Dundee 
2 Aberdeen
3 Hibernian
4 Motherwell
5 St Johnstone
6 Ross County
7 Livingston
8 Dundee United

Pot 2
9 Raith Rovers
10 Partick Thistle
11 Airdrieonians
12 Greenock Morton
13 Dunfermline Athletic
14 Ayr United
15 Queen’s Park
16 Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Pot 3
17 Arbroath
18 Falkirk
19 Hamilton Academical
20 Alloa Athletic
21 Montrose
22 Cove Rangers
23 Kelty Hearts
24 Queen of the South

Pot 4
25 Annan Athletic
26 Stirling Albion
27 Edinburgh City
28 Stenhousemuir
29 Peterhead
30 The Spartans
31 Dumbarton
32 East Fife

Pot 5
33 Forfar Athletic
34 Elgin City
35 Bonnyrigg Rose
36 Clyde
37 Stranraer
38 East Kilbride
39 Buckie Thistle
40 Brechin City

All the details

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My only prediction is that more than half of the starting line-up in game 1 of the group stage will not be in the starting line-up for game 1 of the league.

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I love the group stage of the league cup, genuinely excited to see where we’ll be playing. Always a good day out to some unfamiliar grounds. The football’s usually pretty terrible though, to be fair.

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Thing that always bothers me about the League Cup groups is whn we get beat or look shagged, people say 'ooooh it's early in the season, they're not ready yet'

Do the lower division opposition not play to the same season and close season as us ?

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57 minutes ago, AllyMax said:

Thing that always bothers me about the League Cup groups is whn we get beat or look shagged, people say 'ooooh it's early in the season, they're not ready yet'

Do the lower division opposition not play to the same season and close season as us ?

I would say that the lower league teams tend to have a more settled squad who know each other and have a set style of play and formation whereas we are usually blooding new players and trying out different things so can look a bit disjointed in games.

Can't say I've noticed much difference in general fitness levels in the games I've seen tbh.

That's my theory anyway.

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1 hour ago, AllyMax said:

Thing that always bothers me about the League Cup groups is whn we get beat or look shagged, people say 'ooooh it's early in the season, they're not ready yet'

Do the lower division opposition not play to the same season and close season as us ?

Not quite - but it's that extra 10% (or whatever) that can make the difference in performances.

Premiership teams have different training schedules and requirements from lower league teams, especially the part time ones. They also tend to have a higher turnover of players, so when the Cup kicks off they might have players with little or no pre-season behind them. And there's players who have been on international duty that take their break late and are two or three weeks behind the rest of the team.

And the fact we start with a dozen new players that the manager needs to test out in different formations and partnerships means it can take a few extra weeks to settle in.

If it was just us, then you could argue we are doing it wrong, but you see the same issue across all the Premiership teams at this point in the competition.

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5 hours ago, Tamwell said:

I love the group stage of the league cup, genuinely excited to see where we’ll be playing. Always a good day out to some unfamiliar grounds. The football’s usually pretty terrible though, to be fair.

Same, I love the League Cup group stages and would take it over a series of pre season friendlies or ‘European’ games any day of the week. 
 

We’ve also got a pretty good record in this stage of the League Cup since the current format was brought in and it’s a good way to start a season. I know we’ve played the same sides more than once at this stage over the years but it’s been good for us. We just need to get through this round and then actually start taking the knockout stages seriously. 
 

Whoever we draw tomorrow we should be looking to win our group and be seeded for the last 16. 

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I hate the League Cup group stage. Or maybe more accurately, I hate when it's scheduled for. The gap between football seasons is way too short. I remember going to last season's group games feeling no real enthusiasm for it. Never mind the squad not being ready, I'm not ready for football back at that point...

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