Scott Mullen
BBC Scotland at Fir Park

To say this game has been poor is probably not doing it justice.

Aside from a Declan Gallagher header flying over the bar, Motherwell have offered pretty much nothing so far. St Johnstone have yet to register a shot on target, too, but the Perth side are the team on top so far.

All in all, dreadful stuff so far.

Image source, SNS

A few young lads have been sneaking a peek over a wall at the Indodrill Stadium.

I'm not sure what they can see from their vantage point but the visitors are well on top in these early stages.

Image source, SNS

Open All Mics has a couple of special guests today, with Off The Ball hosts Stewart Cosgrove and Tam Cowan doing the honours from Fir Park.

Just as well there is social distancing in place, keeping the celebrity Motherwell & St Johnstone fans apart.

And away we go. Who's heading for the last eight in the League Cup?

Scott Mullen
BBC Scotland at Fir Park

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson was strong in his pre-match interview, stating murder enquiries have been concluded quicker than the SPFL's investigation into Covid cases at Kilmarnock and St Mirren after their matches with the Lanarkshire club could not be fulfilled.

Having said that, I'm sure he'd welcome another game being added to his pile by close of play today...

Tyrone Smith
BBC Scotland at Gayfield

Arbroath's resources are certainly being stretched today. Injury and suspension mean they have just five players on the bench, including 48-year-old goalkeeping coach Rab Douglas.

I should say it is a gorgeous afternoon on the Angus coast, not even a slight gust of wind, which is unusual around these parts.

It's a case of deja vu at Easter Road today as Hibs welcome Dundee to Leith just two weeks after both sides faced off in the League Cup group stages.

The Edinburgh side inflicted a 4-1 defeat on the Championship club in the final group game which saw Jack Ross' men claim top spot before being paired with Dundee again, who finished second in Group B.

Image source, SNS

Since then, Ross' side have played out two consecutive league draws at home to champions Celtic and St Johnstone, drawing 2-2 in both, whereas James McPake's Dundee continue to underwhelm in the second tier, sitting seventh in the table after a 2-0 loss away to Ayr United last weekend.

Can the ex-Hibs skipper kickstart the Championship side's season and come back to haunt his former club today?

John Barnes
BBC Scotland at Tony Macaroni Arena

David Martindale says he wouldn’t rule out going for the manager’s job at Livingston and he’s taken himself out the recruitment process so there is no conflict of interest.

Livingston play their first match since the departure of head coach Gary Holt on Thursday.

Livi are third bottom of the Scottish Premiership but their League Cup campaign has, so far, been impressive with four wins out of four in Group H. Head of football operations David Martindale and goalkeeping coach Tony Caig take charge this afternoon.

Martindale and Caig bring in Jack Fitzwater, Josh Mullin and Matej Poplatnik for Ciaron Brown, the suspended Jason Holt and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. Brown and Emmanuel-Thomas are on the bench.

Image source, SNS

Ayr finished top of Group F with eight points from four games and Mark Kerr's side also have eight points from their opening five Championship games, leaving them five points off leaders Dunfermline.

Just one change made by Kerr today with on-loan Kilmarnock forward Innes Cameron replacing Cammy Smith, who is not in the squad.

Hearts may have eased past Alloa at Tynecastle on Tuesday, knocking in three first-half goals, but manager Robbie Neilson knows it will be a trickier prospect on the artificial turf at the Indodrill Stadium.

Following the midweek victory, he said: "Saturday will be a completely different game, on a different surface. It's always tough there."

Alloa prop up the Championship table with just one point, but they picked up nine points from four League Cup group games to get through as one of the best second-placed teams.

Hearts finished top of their section on maximum points and have won four from five in the league.

Image source, SNS

Tyrone Smith
BBC Scotland

One thing we know for certain is that there will be two teams from Scottish football’s second tier progressing in the competition.

There are two all-championship last 16 encounters and one of them is here at Gayfield, where Arbroath host Dunfermline.

The two sides have experienced contrasting league seasons. The Pars are unbeaten so far and sit top of the pile, whereas Arbroath are second bottom and without a victory.

But the form book counts for nothing in the cup, and having enjoyed successful group campaigns, both teams will be confident of getting a positive result on the North Sea coast and continuing their journey in the competition.

Arbroath: Gaston, Thomson, Hamilton, Little, Craigen, Stewart, McKenna, Swankie, Donnelly, Ruth, Virtanen

Substitutes: Hillson, Linn, Doolan, Whatley, Douglas

Dunfermline: Fon Williams, Mayo, Watson, Murray, Edwards, Wilson, Dow, Turner, McInroy, Thomas, McManus

Substitutes: Gill, Comrie, O'Hara, McCann, Whittaker, Bowman, Fenton, Murray, Berry

Alloa Athletic: Parry, Dick, Graham, Taggart, Hetherington, Robertson, Grant, Cawley, Murray, Trouten, Buchanan.

Substitutes: Willison, Scougall, Brown, Connelly, Malcolm, Thomson, O'Donnell, Williamson, Lynch.

Heart of Midlothian: Gordon, Smith, Halkett, Berra, Kingsley, Halliday, Haring, Lee, White, Walker, Boyce

Substitutes: Stewart, Roberts, Naismith, Wighton, Irving, Brandon, Popescu, Henderson, McGill.

Livingston: Stryjek, Lawson, Fitzwater, Guthrie, Devlin, Bartley, Sibbald, Forrest, Pittman, Mullin, Poplatnik.

Substitutes: Maley, McMillan, Brown, Ambrose, Serrano, Taylor-Sinclair, Robinson, Tiffoney, Emmanuel-Thomas.

Ayr United: Sinisalo, Houston, Murdoch, Roscoe, Reading, Cameron, Miller, Baird, Chalmers, Moffat, McCowan.

Substitutes: Muirhead, Anderson, Zanatta, Hewitt, Hare-Reid, McKenzie, Kerr, Smith.

Hibernian: Marciano, P McGinn, McGregor, Porteous, Mackie, Boyle, Mallan, Newell, Murphy, Doidge, Nisbet

Substitutes: Barnes, Gray, Doig, Gogic, Hallberg, S McGinn, Wright, Bradley, Gullan

Dundee: J Hamilton, Elliott, Fontaine, Ashcroft, Marshall, Byrne, Anderson, McGowan, Adam, Afolabi, Jakubiak.

Substitutes: Ferrie, Kerr, McGhee, Forster, McDaid, Robertson, Sow, N Hamilton, Murray