Tenth meets 12th in the Scottish Premiership as Hamilton Academical welcome St Johnstone to the Fountain of Youth stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Both sides will be hoping to claim their third victory of the campaign, with the visitors sitting bottom of the table on goal difference, whereas the home side are two places higher but on the same number of points.
Match preview
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Neither side have begun the 2020-21 campaign as they had hoped but are aware that one or two victories could propel themselves out of the danger zone.
Hamilton head coach Brian Rice admitted that he could only enjoy their 2-1 Betfred Cup win over Ayr United for a fleeting moment before turning his attention to this weekend's match.
Rice was happy to have won their first match in five but admits the jubilation has not lasted long and he understands that there is more hard work ahead for himself and his squad if they are to ensure a successful league campaign.
Hamilton have lost four of their last six meetings with the visitors including the previous two encounters last season, but a home win could see the Accies overtake Motherwell and move up to ninth in the table.
St Johnstone have recently shone in the Betfred Cup, winning both of their matches last week, which included a thumping 7-0 victory over Brechin City, with striker Stevie May scoring a hat-trick.
However, their league form has not been encouraging after four defeats on the spin without scoring a goal, which sees the Saints sitting rock bottom of the Scottish Premiership.
Manager Callum Davidson would like to think that the nine goals scored in their two Betfred Cup matches will give their attacking players the confidence they need in front of goal to start firing in the league.
Victory on their travels this weekend would see the Saints move off the bottom of the table to potentially as high as ninth.
Hamilton Scottish Premiership form: WLWLDL
Hamilton form (all competitions): WLDLLW
St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form: LWLLLL
St Johnstone form (all competitions): LLLLWW
Team News
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Hamilton midfielder Lewis Smith is unavailable for selection and remains out with a hamstring injury.
Forward Andrew Winter and defender Jamie Hamilton will miss the match as they are self-isolating and following coronavirus protocols.
Hakeem Odoffin, Hamilton's top goalscorer with three, will partner Shaun Want in the heart of defence.
Marios Ogkmpoe and David Templeton are set to lead the line in attack.
St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson is set to revert to a 3-5-2 formation with defenders Jason Kerr, Liam Gordon and Jamie McCart forming the back three.
Ali McCann, who has played every minute in the league this season, will remain in the starting XI alongside experienced midfield duo Murray Davidson and David Wotherspoon.
Stevie May is likely to be given a place in the starting lineup after scoring three goals last weekend.
Hamilton possible starting lineup:
Fulton; Hodson, Odoffin, Want, McMann; Smith, Mimnaugh, Martin, Callachan; Templeton, Ogkmpoe
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Parish; Kerr, Gordon, McCart; McNamara, McCann, Davidson, Wotherspoon, Tanser; Hendry, May
We say: Hamilton Academical 1-1 St Johnstone
A big game for two teams at the wrong end of the table with both sides struggling for goals and points. The Accies and the Saints will both be desperate to win, but with the teams lacking confidence, this fixture could see the spoils shared.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away 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.Away Win:dataData 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 St Johnstone win with a probability of 46.29%. A draw had a probability of 27.8% and a win for Hamilton Academical had a probability of 25.95%.
The most likely scoreline for a St Johnstone win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.28%) and 1-2 (8.65%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.86%), while for a Hamilton Academical win it was 1-0 (9.56%). The actual scoreline of 3-5 was predicted with a 0.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that St Johnstone would win this match.
