- Lochee United have taken two friendlies with flying colors but were held by Berwick Rangers last time out.
- Dunipace have made the kind of signings that suit their usual style of play.
A first Lowland League East campaign begins
Dunipace FC and Lochee United are set to kick off their first Lowland League East campaign with a game that could potentially set the tone of the new split-division season. As yet there are no points on the board in the 2026-2027 edition so it really is a case of square one for both of these sides.
Lochee seem sharper than Dunipace at this early stage with 6-2 and 4-0 wins over Blairgowrie and Forfar United respectively being followed by a 1-1 draw with Berwick Rangers, a side that are always solid.
Dunipace's summer has been mixed with a 0-4 defeat at Arbroath giving them a reality check against Football League level opposition and there will be no shame in losing to the Leithers.
Dunipace are solid but Lochee United are lively in front of goal
The bookies have Dunipace at 7/5, Lochee at 7/5 and the draw at 129/50, so this is being seen as a bit of a coin-toss match. However, we feel that Lochee have the edge because of their better scoring form in the summer friendlies and because Dunipace need to get their home reset to click fast on the Westfield Park 4G.
The only real head-to-head record of these two clubs is from this summer's pre-season and there hasn't been a lot of competitive contact. So the form line has to lean towards the visitors here, who are clearly more advanced in their preparation for the coming season.
Danny Smith's side are very solid and should be pragmatic in their approach to games. Dunipace are a compact, disciplined unit that will sit in a block and hit men on the counter-attack. They are a team adding fresh legs in the wide and midfield areas with the likes of Jonny Mitchell, Scott Sinclair and Lucas Williamson, which has been a summer smart move.
Sam Colley and Conor McKenzie look like the most likely attacking outlets. David Kane is a solid performer behind them, giving the club a spine they will need in this very tough division.
Lochee’s attacking trio have been on the money
Lochee are set up with some physicality and experience at the back to go with Kevin McHattie's steel and experience. There is an attacking spark in the trio of Connor Coupe, Ross Fraser and Lewis Raeside that has been working well so far and Lochee have scored plenty in their summer outings.
So, this game feels like it will be block versus break and the tempo should be tense, so we'll back over 2.5 goals at 12/25 and both teams to score at 43/100 to get an open game, with 1-1 or 1-2 being the most natural angles.
