St Mirren welcome Livingston to Paisley on Saturday afternoon with the Buddies looking to end a run of three Scottish Premiership games without a win.

Livingston have also struggled in recent times after their good run of form, having lost their last two league games.

Match preview

St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin pictured on August 9, 2020 © Reuters

Jim Goodwin's St Mirren side are now in sixth place in the league table but the gap between them and fifth-placed Livi has been cut to five points.

The Paisley Saints have endured a mixed run of form, with a 4-0 defeat at Celtic on February 10 being followed by successive draws away at Aberdeen and at home to Hamilton Academical.

The 1-1 draw at Hamilton on Wednesday took the Buddies back into the top half of the Premiership but Goodwin was frustrated with the way his team gave up a 1-0 lead to lose out on all three points.

The Saints hit the woodwork twice as well as forcing a superb save from Accies keeper Ryan Fulton, and Goodwin now wants his team to refocus and seal their place in the top six.

He also hailed the performance of Saints keeper Jak Alnwick, who made a great save to ensure that St Mirren secured a share of the points.

Livingston's long unbeaten run finally came to an end in February, with boss David Martindale tasting defeat for the first time in his reign on February 6 at St Johnstone.

That 2-1 loss has been followed by a 3-0 defeat at Dundee United last weekend, a game which saw a red card awarded to each side. Livi's Jack Fitzwater was dismissed just after the hour mark.

Manager Martindale has also been in the news this week after expressing disappointment with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's comments about Scottish football needing to "get its house in order" regarding breaches of COVID-19 protocols.

Martindale felt that the comments were unfair, but fans will surely want to keep his focus on what happens on the pitch, especially as the West Lothian outfit has faltered in February.

St Mirren Scottish Premiership form: LLWLDD

Livingston Scottish Premiership form: DWDWLL
Livingston form (all competitions): WWDWLL

Team News

Rangers defender Filip Helander gets a shot away in the Scottish Premiership clash with Livingston on August 16, 2020 © Reuters

St Mirren boss Goodwin has a few injury concerns to juggle ahead of this game, with his attacking options somewhat curtailed.

Attacking midfielder Jamie McGrath dislocated his shoulder in the recent defeat at Celtic and is out of action, while new striker Eamonn Brophy has a fractured foot that will keep him out for the rest of the season.

Jake Doyle-Hayes has an ankle problem that will see him sidelined for some weeks, and Collin Quaner's knee problem could keep home out for a few games yet.

For Livi, Alan Lithgow and Keaghan Jacobs are still out, and Jack Fitzwater is suspended, though the club are appealing the red card he received against Dundee United.

David Martindale has no other injury or suspension concerns ahead of the game.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy; Tait, MacPherson, Erhahon, Durmus; McAllister; Obika, Erwin

Livingston possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Devlin, Ambrose, Guthrie, Serrano; Pittman, Bartley, Holt; Mullin, Robinson, Sibbald

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We say: St Mirren 1-1 Livingston

St Mirren are a hard team to beat but have also found winning tricky in recent games, while Livi have endured a couple of bumps lately too.

This game looks like being a hard-fought draw with 1-1 a probable scoreline.

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.

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 46.54%. A win for St Mirren had a probability of 27.26% and a draw had a probability of 26.2%.

The most likely scoreline for a Livingston win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.78%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.11%) and 0-2 (8.63%). The likeliest St Mirren win was 1-0 (8.49%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.43%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.4% likelihood.