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Livingston logo
Scottish Premiership | Gameweek 22
Feb 1, 2022 at 7.45pm UK
Almondvale Stadium
St Johnstone logo

Livingston
1 - 2
St Johnstone

Anderson (34')
Anderson (66'), Obileye (84'), Fitzwater (87'), Nouble (89')
Nouble (90+2')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Hendry (11'), Crawford (90')
Davidson (87'), Middleton (90+1')

Preview: Livingston vs. St Johnstone - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Tuesday's Scottish Premiership clash between Livingston and St Johnstone, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Livingston will be hoping to cut the gap to the top six in the Scottish Premiership when they welcome bottom-of-the-table St Johnstone to the Tony Macaroni Arena on Tuesday evening.

The hosts twice came from behind to pick up an impressive victory at the weekend, whilst the visitors saw their visit to Aberdeen postponed.


Match preview

Rangers' Cedric Itten in action with Livingston's Jack Fitzwater, August 16, 2020© Reuters

A below-par start to the trip to Hibernian on Saturday saw Livingston fall behind on two separate occasions in the first half, with Ayo Obileye briefly hauling his side level in between.

However, a much-improved second-half display saw David Martindale's side come from behind again to seal a 3-2 victory, thanks to a quickfire double from Jack Fitzwater and Alan Forrest before the hour mark.

The win and the overall performance was the perfect response to narrowly falling 1-0 at champions Rangers just three days earlier, and the result means that it is now three wins from their last four games in all competitions.

With Dundee United losing late on at Celtic, and Aberdeen's match with Tuesday's opponents being called off, the Lions cut the gap to the top six to just two points ahead of the midweek action, despite remaining unchanged in eighth place.

However, the concern ahead of the welcome of their struggling opponents is Livingston's poor home form at the Tony Macaroni Arena this season.

With just 11 points and nine goals scored from their opening 10 Scottish Premiership home matches this campaign, only their opponents have a worse record in front of their own supporters at this point.

Following no victories for the home side in each of the last five meetings between these two sides, Livingston will be hoping to end that strange sequence in midweek.

St Johnstone's Callum Booth reacts with teammates after the match on August 5, 2021© Reuters

Meanwhile, St Johnstone's match at Aberdeen on Saturday was postponed due to severe weather conditions, meaning the one positive that manager Callum Davidson can try and take into this encounter is the fact that his side should be fresher than their opponents.

There is not much else that can provide the visitors with any positivity when they make the trip, with the Saints occupying bottom spot in the table following a winless spell of 12 matches across all competitions.

A 0-0 draw at home to Dundee six days prior to this clash was their last action, which was the perfect opportunity to climb off the foot of the table against the side sitting directly above them.

However, their woes in front of goal this season were on show once more, as St Johnstone made it three consecutive matches without scoring a goal, which also includes the humiliating 1-0 cup exit to Scottish League Two side Kelty Hearts.

In fact, the dreadful tally of just 11 in their opening 22 league matches this campaign mean that Tuesday's visitors are averaging exactly one goal every two games, so Davidson's task remains hugely difficult, with his job being on the line as a result.

With Livingston defeating St Johnstone 3-0 at McDiarmid Park in the other meeting this season back in October as well, there is little to suggest that the away side will approach the encounter with much hope.

Livingston Scottish Premiership form:
  • W
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • L
  • W

Livingston form (all competitions):
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W

St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form:
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • D

St Johnstone form (all competitions):
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • D



Team News

Livingston manager David Martindale pictured in February 2021© Reuters

Livingston will assess the fitness of Jon Nouble ahead of Tuesday's match, with the striker being substituted late on due to a knock following his brace of assists at the weekend.

Bruce Anderson will be in line to deputise should he miss out, whilst Cristian Montano could start at left-back following his replacement of Jackson Longridge at half time.

Tom Parkes could return to the squad following a knee injury, and the only confirmed absentee is goalkeeper Daniel Barden.

As for the visitors, David Wotherspoon remains out for the season due to a serious knee injury, whilst fellow midfielder Craig Bryson is also ruled out of Tuesday's trip due to an ankle injury.

Shaun Rooney will also miss out due to ankle problem of his own, whilst Nadir Ciftci and fellow forward Michael O'Halloran are expected to remain on the sidelines due to hamstring injuries.

Livingston possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Montano; Pitman, Holt, Omeonga; Bailey, Anderson, Forrest

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Clark; Cleary, Gordon, McCart; Brown, Davidson, Craig, MacPherson, Booth; May, Kane


SM words green background

We say: Livingston 1-0 St Johnstone

With neither side being particularly clinical and creative in front of goal, it is difficult to see many goals being scored here on Tuesday.

However, with St Johnstone being on such a dreadful run of form, and Livingston heading into it with plenty of positives, the hosts should edge out their struggling opponents relatively easily if they can find their goalscoring touch as they did at the weekend.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals 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.Over 1.5:data



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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 42.62%. A draw had a probability of 29.8% and a win for St Johnstone had a probability of 27.54%.

The most likely scoreline for a Livingston win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.96%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.82%) and 2-1 (7.8%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.24%), while for a St Johnstone win it was 0-1 (11.24%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood.


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Game History

How you voted: Livingston vs St Johnstone

Livingston
83.3%
Draw
6.7%
St Johnstone
10.0%
30
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