Two sides aiming to end winless streaks come together on Saturday when 11th-placed St Johnstone host seventh-placed Ross County at McDiarmid Park in the Scottish Premiership.
The hosts are on a seven-game winless streak heading into this game, while the visitors are coming into this match without a win in their last three outings.
Match preview
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Since finishing fifth in the 2020-21 season, St Johnstone have struggled to break into the top half of the Scottish Premiership, battling against relegation in each of the following three campaigns.
They placed in the relegation playoff place in 2021-22, defeating Caley Thistle 6-2 on aggregate to secure their place in the division, followed by ninth and 10th-placed finishes in the subsequent years.
St Johnstone would have been aiming to avoid a relegation battle this campaign, but a poor start that has seen them accumulate just four points in the opening eight outings has left them in 11th place.
Craig Levein, who had been in charge since November 2023, was sacked following a 2-0 loss to Hibernian after just five league games, leavding to Andy Kirk and Alex Cleland stepping in as an interim management team for the following three games.
Simo Valakari was hired prior to the meeting with Rangers, but the new boss was in the stands with Kirk and Cleland taking charge, but the Finnish coach will be in the dugout for Saturday's game.
Valakari will be hoping he can lead his new team to a first win in seven outings, with six of those being losses, and a struggling Ross County could provide them with the perfect opportunity to achieve that goal.
Ross County, who have finished in the relegation playoff place in each of the last two years, had an incredible start to the campaign, remaining unbeaten in their first six across all competitions, with four wins and two draws.
However, a loss to The Spartans marked the beginning of three straight defeats, though they managed to bounce back with a win against Dundee, followed by back-to-back draws with St Johnstone and Hearts.
They surprisingly took the lead in their last outing against Celtic, Ronan Hale from the penalty spot, but they lost their lead with two goals in the final 15 minutes as Celtic ran out 2-1 winners.
Don Cowie will be aiming to put an end to that run with a first away league win of the season on Saturday, but history is against the hosts as they have failed to triumph in the last four encounters with St Johnstone.
Team News
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The hosts will be without Uche Ikpeazu, who has been unavailable since July due to a long-term injury, and Sam McClelland, due to an Achilles injury, for this game, though both are expected to return later this month.
Additionally, Valakari may make several changes to the starting team due to this being his first game in charge of the club, aiming to make an immediate impact on the team.
The visitors will be without George Harmon, Max Sheaf and Ricki Lamie for this match due to injury concerns, though all three are likely to return to the matchday squad sometime this month.
Hale is Ross County's top scorer this season with four goals in the league, including three in his last three matches, and the striker is expected to keep his place in attack here.
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Sinclair; Neilson, Sanders, Cameron; Wright, MacPherson, Essel, Smith, Raymond; Sidibeh, Mbunga-Kimpioka
Ross County possible starting lineup:
Laidlaw; Wright, Lopata, Leak; Efete, Randall, Nisbet, Campbell; Chilvers, Denholm; Hale
We say: St Johnstone 0-2 Ross County
Although Ross County's form has declined compared to their early-season results, they are the favourites heading into this match due to St Johnstone's dismal record in recent outings, including six losses in their last seven games, leading us to believe the visitors will secure the victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
