St Johnstone will be looking to claim their second piece of silverware this season when they lock horns with Hibernian in the 136th Scottish Cup final on Saturday.
The showpiece event at Hampden Park will take place behind closed doors as the easing of lockdown restrictions has been postponed in Glasgow.
This will be the sixth meeting between the two sides this campaign, with the Saints winning each of the last three without conceding.
Match preview
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St Johnstone guaranteed themselves European football for next season after a goalless draw with Livingston last weekend.
Chances were at a premium in the encounter at McDiarmid Park, but the stalemate ensured that they finished above the Lions on goal difference in fifth place, their highest top-flight position in four years.
Callum Davidson's side now turn their attention to the Scottish Cup final against Hibs, knowing that a victory will earn them a place in the Europa League and a defeat will see them qualify for the inaugural Europa Conference League.
The Saints were able to welcome back some of their first-team players for the match on Saturday, but their current coronavirus problems still exist. Although Davidson admitted that the situation has been 'very difficult to deal with', he is hopeful that the squad can get through the next round of testing unscathed.
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St Johnstone's route to the final has seen them beat lower league opposition in rounds three and four – defeating Dundee 1-0 on the road and Clyde 2-0 on home soil – before a remarkable 4-2 victory on penalties away at Premiership champions Rangers in the quarter-finals.
The Perth-based outfit then claimed a 2-1 win against St Mirren in the semi-finals, to book their place in a domestic cup final for the second time this season.
Since losing 1-0 to Hibs back in August, St Johnstone are unbeaten in their last four meetings against them, including a 3-0 victory in the League Cup semi-final, before lifting the trophy in February.
The Saints know what it takes to claim silverware this campaign and although they may not have their strongest starting lineup available for the weekend, Davidson's side will still fancy their chances of lifting another trophy at Hampden Park and their first Scottish Cup since 2013-14.
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Hibernian ended their 2020-21 league campaign with a goalless draw at home to Celtic last weekend, a game that saw Scott Brown bid farewell to the Hoops at the ground where his career began back in 2003.
The Edinburgh-based outfit finished third in the Scottish Premiership, their highest top-flight position since 2004-05, although they were 14 points behind Celtic in second place.
Jack Ross has had an impressive first full season at the helm, guiding Hibs to 18 league victories and 63 points, accumulating 28 more than last term and 26 more than the season before.
The 44-year-old is now hoping to end the campaign on a high by claiming his first major piece of silverware as a manger and the club's first trophy since they won the Scottish Cup in 2015-16.
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Like St Johnstone, Hibernian's route to the final has seen them beat lower league opposition in the third and fourth rounds – convincingly defeating Queen of the South 3-1 and Stranraer 4-0 last month – before an entertaining 2-2 draw against Motherwell was decided on penalties, with Hibs coming out on top to win 4-2 at Easter Road.
Hibs then booked their place in the final after winning 2-0 against Dundee United a fortnight ago, thanks to strikes from Kevin Nisbet and Christian Doidge, who have now scored 30 goals combined across all competitions this campaign.
Ross's side head into Saturday's showpiece event having struggled in recent months when facing St Johnstone. Hibs have lost each of their last three games against them without scoring, including a 1-0 loss at the beginning of this month, which has been their only defeat in their last seven matches across all competitions.
After reaching five semi-finals since winning the Scottish Cup five years ago, Hibs have eventually made it to the final and are just 90 minutes away from lifting their third trophy this century.
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Team News
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The COVID-19 crisis at St Johnstone remains ongoing, but a number of senior players returned for the match with Livingston and will also be available for Saturday's final.
Murray Davidson – who signed a new contract this week to stay with the Saints for a 13th season – was one player who retuned and started last weekend, and having missed the League Cup final earlier this year due to injury, the 33-year-old midfielder will be hoping that he can keep his place in the first XI.
Zander Clark, Liam Gordon, Michael O'Halloran and Ali McCann were all self-isolating over the weekend and will be assessed ahead of kickoff to see whether they can feature at Hampden Park.
Scott Tanser has an outside chance of being fit for the final, after missing the last four games with an ankle injury, but Scott Booth is expected to start at left wing-back.
Craig Conway, Chris Kane, Craig Bryson and Glenn Middleton all began the last match on the bench, but will be pushing to start in the final.
As for Hibernian, Ross will have to decide whether to start goalkeeper Matt Macey – who has played in all four Scottish Cup matches this campaign – or Ofir Marciano, who could make his final appearance for the club as he is leaving the Edinburgh-based outfit when his contract expires next month.
Ross rested seven first-team regulars in the draw with Celtic and he is expected to recall all of those players for the final.
Full-backs Paul McGinn and Josh Doig are set to replace David Gray and Lewis Stevenson, with Paul Hanlon is likely to start at centre-back at the expense of Darren McGregor.
Alex Gogic and Joe Newell could keep their places in central midfield but Kyle Magennis, Melker Hallberg, Jamie Murphy and Drey Wright may all drop to the bench.
Martin Boyle and Jackson Irvine could be handed starts on the flanks, while Nisbet – who was named in Scotland's 26-man squad for Euro 2020 – and Doidge are expected to start up front.
Right midfielder Chris Cadden and left-back Sean Mackie both remain out with respective back and thigh injuries.
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Zlamal; Rooney, Kerr, McCart; Brown, Wotherspoon, Bryson, Booth; Middleton, Melamed; Kane
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Macey; McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Doig; Boyle, Gogic, Newell, Irvine; Nisbet, Doidge
We say: St Johnstone 2-1 Hibernian
Saturday's Scottish Cup final is set to be a closely-fought encounter and one that could even go to extra time or penalties.
However, when taking into account St Johnstone's recent form in previous meetings with Hibs, as well as the experience they will have gained from their League Cup triumph, we feel that the Saints will come out on top at Hampden Park for the second time, concluding what has been a remarkable campaign for Callum Davidson's side.
Top tip
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 Hibernian win with a probability of 44.31%. A draw had a probability of 29.8% and a win for St Johnstone had a probability of 25.89%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hibernian win was 0-1 with a probability of 15.56%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.33%) and 1-2 (7.87%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.11%), while for a St Johnstone win it was 1-0 (10.93%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.9% likelihood.
