St Johnstone play host to St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon eager to improve on a run of three defeats from four matches.

Meanwhile, St Mirren, having played a game less than their hosts, sit in sixth position after only losing out to Rangers since the beginning of the campaign.

Match preview

Callum Davidson pictured in 2018 © Reuters

When St Johnstone battled hard with 10 men to claim a draw against Dundee United on the opening day of the season, Callum Davidson would have had high hopes for his new side.

However, a prolonged break in action due to Aberdeen's coronavirus issues has done St Johnstone no favours, with just one win coming from their last four outings.

The solitary success, against a Kilmarnock side who were at a player disadvantage, has proven enough to keep the club above the relegation zone ahead of their final fixture of the month.

That said, the Saints have little momentum after back-to-back home defeats to Aberdeen and Hibernian without finding the back of the net.

Davidson has witnessed his team get on the scoresheet on just three occasions this season, each goal coming no earlier than the 55th minute.

From St Mirren's perspective, picking up four points from their last two outings have provided Jim Goodwin's outfit with plenty of momentum heading into their next contest.

Despite conceding a second-half equaliser in the last game against Ross County, Goodwin would have been relatively content with a share of the spoils after playing the final 28 minutes with 10 men.

Like St Johnstone, the Buddies are finding goals hard to come by, but Jonathan Obika has now netted important strikes in his last two appearances.

With games against in-form Hibs and Dundee United to follow, Goodwin will hope that the well-travelled Englishman can continue his good form at McDiarmid Park.

St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form: DLWLL

St Mirren Scottish Premiership form: WLWD

Team News

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin pictured in August 2020 © Reuters

St Johnstone will be without Liam Craig, who is serving a one-match ban for his dismissal against Hibs.

David Wotherspoon could be brought back into the starting lineup in what would be an attack-minded change by Davidson.

St Mirren are also dealing with a suspension after Joe Shaughnessy was handed a straight red card versus Ross County.

Sam Foley could drop back into the middle of the backline, but recent signing Kristian Dennis is likely to remain on the substitutes' bench.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Parish; Kerr, Gordon, McCart, Tanser; McNamara, Wotherspoon, Conway, McCann; O'Halloran, Hendry

St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Foley, Tait; MacPherson, Sheron; McAllister, McGrath, Morias; Obika

SM words green background

We say: St Johnstone 1-1 St Mirren

Given the form of their hosts, St Mirren will view this contest as an ideal opportunity to make further progress up the table. However, Davidson will expect a reaction from his St Johnstone squad, who must improve in the final third as soon as possible.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 2.5 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.

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 St Johnstone win with a probability of 41.83%. A win for St Mirren had a probability of 30.58% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.

The most likely scoreline for a St Johnstone win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.47%) and 2-0 (7.9%). The likeliest St Mirren win was 0-1 (9.97%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.99%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for St Johnstone in this match.