Livingston host Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership this Saturday and have the chance to win five games in a row in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Killie will be hoping to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Dunfermline in midweek with a victory over the Lions.
Match preview
© Reuters
Livingston manager Gary Holt will be pleased with his side's current good run of form having won their last four matches in all competitions, scoring 11 goals in the process.
The Lions came from behind against Alloa Athletic in the Betfred Cup to seal a 2-1 home victory and Holt praised his players for rising to his half-time challenge.
The 47-year-old demanded an increase in tempo and movement from his players in the second half and within four minutes of the restart, Alan Forrest and Josh Mullin each scored a goal to turn the game on its head.
Livi currently sit in sixth place in the Scottish Championship table and a win would see Holt's side climb above this weekend's opponents into fifth spot.
© Reuters
Kilmarnock boss Alex Dyer will be pleased to have the majority of his senior squad back for this weekend's match following several members of the first team squad having to self-isolate, after there were six positive coronavirus tests before their match against Motherwell, which was eventually postponed.
Dyer has claimed that Livingston refused to delay their Scottish Premiership clash on Saturday, despite Killie requesting that the match should be put back by a few days.
Kilmarnock only had five senior outfield players and a goalkeeper available for their home Betfred Cup match against Dunfermline, which they lost 3-0.
Dyer will have more players to choose from for their trip to the Toni Macaroni Arena, however with several players being absent from training, much of the squad will be lacking match sharpness.
A win for Killie would see Dyer's side remain in fifth spot, three points ahead of this weekend's opponents.
Livingston Scottish Premiership form: LWLLWW
Livingston (all competitions): LLWWWW
Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form: LLWLWW
Kilmarnock form (all competitions): WLWWLL
Team News
© Reuters
Goalkeeper Robby McCrorie is set to be recalled to the Livingston starting XI after missing their 2-1 victory over Alloa Athletic.
Jon Guthrie is likely to replace Aaron Taylor-Sinclair at centre-back.
Scott Tiffoney should return to the starting XI up front, replacing new signing Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
Kilmarnock stopper Danny Rogers will be recalled to the starting lineup, replacing Colin Doyle.
Central defensive duo Kirk Broadfoot and Stuart Findlay should return to the starting XI, which could see Gary Dicker, who played as a central defender in midweek, return to the centre of midfield.
Midfielder Youssef Mulumbu remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Livingston possible starting lineup:
McCrorie; Devlin, Ambrose, Guthrie, Serrano; Bartley, Holt; Robinson, Pitman, Forrest; Tiffoney
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Rogers; Millen, Broadfoot, Findlay, Waters; Burke, Tshibola, Power, Dicker, Kiltie; Kabamba
We say: Livingston 2-0 Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock have only won one of their last five top flight visits to Livingston and have lost the previous two. With Killie players lacking match sharpness and with Livingston in a good run of form, the Lions should take all three points at the Toni Macaroni Arena.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:data
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Livingston win with a probability of 47.29%. A draw had a probability of 27.6% and a win for Kilmarnock had a probability of 25.08%.
The most likely scoreline for a Livingston win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.02%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.56%) and 2-1 (8.71%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.77%), while for a Kilmarnock win it was 0-1 (9.38%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 1.8% likelihood.
