Preview: Livingston vs St Mirren - prediction, team news, lineups

Livingston will welcome St Mirren to the Almondvale Stadium this Saturday in round four of the Scottish Cup.

Both sides may look at this as a reprieve and a way to kick-start their fight against relegation, with the pair currently occupying two of the bottom three positions in the Premiership.

Match preview

The Lions are currently rock bottom of the Premiership, having only collected 10 points this campaign across 21 matches courtesy of 13 defeats, seven draws and just one victory.

Livingston have not experienced a victory since the second fixture of the season, when they earned a 3-1 win over Falkirk; since then the hosts have experienced an embarrassing 20-game winless run in all tournaments, suffering 14 losses in that time.

David Martindale will be hopeful that a cup win could breed fresh confidence into his side to help reignite their battle against relegation.

Fans will take confidence from their last home game against the visitors, as they managed to secure a 1-0 win last February.

Livingston's last two Scottish Cup campaigns have ended in the quarter-final stage, but not since the 2018-19 season have they been knocked out in the fourth round.

The Saints fans have already experienced some highs this season, as they lifted the Scottish League Cup, and there will be hope they can secure a double by lifting this trophy.

Despite this success, Stephen Robinson’s side have struggled in the league, as they occupy 10th place, having won four, drawn six and lost 11 of their 21 fixtures, earning them 18 points.

St Mirren’s form in recent weeks has not been good, as they have lost their last four games, scoring only one goal in this period.

Their last win came on December 20, when they managed to earn a 1-0 victory over Livingston at home, so fans will hope they can earn a similar result to help kickstart their fight against relegation.

St Mirren's last two Scottish Cup campaigns have come to an end in the fifth round, but their last fourth-round elimination came all the way back in 2017-18 against Aberdeen.

Livingston form (all competitions):

D L L L L D

St Mirren form (all competitions):

W D L L L L

Team News

Livingston are expected to be without Shane Blaney, Aidan Denholm and Adam Montgomery, with the trio expected to return from their injury concerns in late January.

Cristian Montano came off in the 52nd minute in their loss to Hearts with an unspecified issue, and he was not involved in the draw with Kilmarnock, so it is expected without a specified update that he will be absent for this fixture.

The Saints will continue to be without Jonah Ayunga, Keanu Baccus, Liam Donnelly, Mark O'Hara and Shamal George due to injury issues.

Robinson may aim to start as strong a team as possible to ensure they can earn a win, so the squad may be the same as the one that began against Hearts.

Livingston possible starting lineup:

Prior; Brenet, Wilson, McGowan, Lawal; Tait, Pittman, Susoho; McLennan, Yengi, May

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

George; Freckleton, Fraser, King; John, Phillips, Smyth, Gogic, McMenamin; Mandron, Idowu

We say: Livingston 0-1 St Mirren

This is set to be a tight affair with both sides desperate for a win. However, St Mirren will be able to edge out a victory like they did in the last fixture between the two days before Christmas.

The visitors have demonstrated their ability this season in a cup competition already and will believe they can do so in this one.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.