Motherwell and Inverness Caledonian Thistle kick off their 2022-23 Scottish League Cup campaign on Wednesday when they go head to head at Fir Park.
The Championship side enjoyed a perfect record in the cup qualifiers back in July, winning each of their four games in Group G, and will look to march on in the same vein.
Match preview
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Motherwell were denied a third consecutive victory last Saturday as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Kilmarnock when the sides squared off at the Rugby Park.
After taking a one-goal lead into half time courtesy of Kevin van Veen's 14th-minute opener, Steven Hammell's men failed to see out the game as Danny Armstrong and Ash Taylor struck six minutes apart to turn the game on its head.
Prior to that, the Steelmen were on a two-game winning streak, seeing off Aberdeen 3-2 on August 13 before returning home where they claimed a 1-0 victory over Livingston one week later.
Motherwell will now look to return to winning ways and surpass their 2021-22 Scottish League Cup run, where they were dumped out in the second round courtesy of a 1-0 loss to Dundee FC last August.
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle, on the other hand, suffered their first home defeat and first set of consecutive losses in the 2022-23 Championship as they were beaten 1-0 by Greenock Morton last Saturday.
Following an uneventful first half at the Caledonian Stadium, former Dundee United midfielder Grant Gillespie came up trumps for the visitors as he scored the only goal of the game to hand them their first away win of the season.
Prior to that, Billy Dodds's men kicked off their second-tier campaign with a run of two draws and one win, before suffering a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Patrick Thistle a fortnight ago.
Inverness, who have failed to win their first two away games this season, now turn their attention to the League Cup where they enjoyed a 100% record in the qualifiers, winning their four games and scoring 13 goals to finish top of Group G.
However, Caley Thistle will fancy their chances of maintaining their stellar cup run on Wednesday as they take a trip to Fir Park where they have won three of their last four visits since November 2015.
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Team News
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Motherwell will have to make do with the absence of Jake Carroll, who suffered a knee injury in the Premiership curtain-raiser against St. Mirren on July 31.
He is joined on the club's injury table by former Middlesbrough defender Nathan McGinley, who continues his long road to full fitness after picking up a long-term injury back in March.
With his strike against Kilmarnock last time out, Van Veen now has four goals in his opening five Premiership games and the Dutch forward will certainly be one to keep an eye on.
As for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Dodds will be unable to call upon 22-year-old midfielder Sean Wels, who picked up a knee problem back in May's game against St. Johnstone.
English defender Max Ram has missed the last eight games through injury, while 31-year-old forward Shane Sutherland has been sidelined since May when he suffered a thigh injury.
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Kelly; McGinn, Sondre Johansen, Lamie, O'Donnell; Cornelius, Goss, Slattery; Shields, Van Veen, Spittal
Inverness Caledonian Thistle possible starting lineup:
Lineup here
We say: Motherwell 2-0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Motherwell will be backing themselves to come away with the desired results as they face an out-of-sorts Inverness side who have stumbled in recent weeks. Given the gulf in quality and experience between the sides, we are backing the hosts to take the positives from their weekend performances and come out victorious against the Championship side.
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