St Mirren are the obvious side to side with here, and that is not really a daring take. When a team wins last season's Scottish League Cup and then goes through the group stage scoring four goals in each of their three wins, you do not need to squint too hard to see why they are the pick.
That is the basis of Ian Wilkerson's call on Sunday, with the Racing Post football expert backing St Mirren to beat Dunfermline at 3pm. The Buddies have already made a habit of brushing teams aside in this competition, and that sort of habit matters. Confidence in cup football is not a vague bonus; it is often the difference between a controlled afternoon and a messy one.
Dunfermline have done what they were supposed to do so far, with comfortable successes over Dumbarton and Cove Rangers. That is a decent platform, but it is not the same as being tested against the holders. St Mirren arrive with a sharper edge and a far more convincing recent Cup record, while Dunfermline are still trying to show they belong at this level of the competition.
The wider point is simple. St Mirren have already shown they can treat this tournament seriously and brutally efficiently, while Dunfermline's route has been more routine. There is nothing wrong with that, but it does leave a clear hierarchy heading into this tie. If the holders reproduce anything like the level they have shown in the group stage, they should be too strong again.
