Livingston will aim to continue their perfect record in the second phase of the Scottish Premiership campaign on Saturday, when they host St Johnstone.
Back-to-back wins have seen the hosts establish themselves at the top of the relegation group in the Scottish Premiership table, while their visitors will be condemned to the bottom two if they fail to pick up three points or other results go against them.
Match preview
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Ahead of the Scottish Premiership's split, Livingston seemingly put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the Championship group, as they moved fourth with four matches remaining thanks to a six-game unbeaten run.
However, the form of David Martindale's side quickly tailed off, as that streak was followed by three straight defeats heading into a pivotal final-day contest against Motherwell.
With a place in the top group on the line, Livingston took a 2-0 lead through Odin Bailey and Alan Forrest, only for Callum Slattery to pull one back and Ricki Lamie to equalise for their opponents in injury time, condemning the Lions to the relegation group.
Martindale's men have quickly adapted to the second phase, getting off to a winning start away at Aberdeen, before Scott Pittman hit the only goal of the game in a home win over Hibernian last weekend.
With a seventh-placed finish now the best they can hope for given their placement in the lower of the two groups, Livi will aim to increase the gap between themselves and eighth-placed Hibernian with what would be a third straight win on Saturday.
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They take on a St Johnstone side fighting for survival, having endured a tough campaign in the top flight.
Knowing they were embroiled in a relegation scrap, Callum Davidson's side were not involved in the tight fight at the end of the Scottish Premiership's first phase for top-half places, but they did enjoy a resurgence in that time, putting together back-to-back wins over Motherwell and Saturday's opponents.
The Saints' first phase was then rounded off with a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Celtic, before they returned to action with a 1-1 draw against Dundee, as they, at least, kept the basement side at bay thanks to Shaun Rooney's second-half equaliser.
Davidson's side most recently took on St Mirren, who sat five points clear outside of the relegation zone with four games to go, making a win vital if they were to stand a chance of automatic safety, but they came away empty-handed as Greg Kiltie's goal made the difference.
Now eight points adrift of automatic safety with just three games to go, St Johnstone can only focus on ensuring they give themselves a chance of survival with a finish in the relegation playoff place by keeping Dundee, who sit five points behind, at bay.
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Team News
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Livingston remain without goalkeeper Max Stryjek due to a retrospective ban, and Ivan Konovalov will continue to deputise between the sticks after impressing in the first-choice stopper's absence last time out.
Elsewhere, Bruce Anderson and Tom Parkes are sidelined by injuries, with the former being a particularly big miss having hit 11 goals in 28 league appearances this term.
In his absence, Odin Bailey, Joel Nouble and Andrew Shinnie could again form the front three, with goals hard to come by in this Livi squad aside from Anderson.
St Johnstone have several injury issues to deal with, as experienced midfielders Craig Bryson and David Wotherspoon are out of action alongside defender Tony Gallacher and forward Chris Kane.
Jack Hendry remains one of their key men going forward, having hit a commendable tally of six goals in 15 appearances in their poor first phase.
Livingston possible starting lineup:
Konovalov; Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Boyes; Pittman, Holt, Kelly; Bailey, Nouble, Shinnie
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Clark; Cleary, Gordon, McCart; Rooney, Davidson, Hallberg, Booth; Crawford; Cifti, Hendry
We say: Livingston 1-0 St Johnstone
Livingston have been dominant in the relegation group thus far, and we do not see their form being derailed on home turf by a struggling St Johnstone side.
While Martindale's side may sometimes lack goals, particularly in the absence of Anderson, they still boast the quality to see off the visitors at the weekend.
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 46.52%. A draw had a probability of 28.7% and a win for St Johnstone had a probability of 24.74%.
The most likely scoreline for a Livingston win was 1-0 with a probability of 15.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.73%) and 2-1 (8.29%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.92%), while for a St Johnstone win it was 0-1 (10.07%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.9% likelihood.
Top tip
Sam Varley
