Motherwell will host St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon looking to win back-to-back home league matches for the first time since December 2019.
Meanwhile, the Saints have shared the points in five of their last seven league games, including a goalless draw in their last meeting against the Steelmen in February.
Match preview
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Motherwell bounced back from a disappointing 4-1 loss in the league to Kilmarnock as they cruised to a 5-0 victory over Highland League side Formartine United in the Scottish Cup last weekend.
A brace from Jordan Roberts, as well as strikes from Chris Long, Devante Cole and Allan Campbell, helped book their place in the fourth round, where they will face Championship outfit Greenock Morton next week.
Motherwell now turn their attention back to the Scottish Premiership where they are still in danger of relegation, but manager Graham Alexander will feel that one or two more victories will be enough to secure their top-flight status for the 36th consecutive season.
The Steelmen are winless from their last four league meetings with St Mirren, which includes two draws and one defeat against them this campaign.
However, victory at Fir Park on Saturday would move Motherwell just two points behind the Saints in seventh and crucially 10 points clear of 11th-placed Kilmarnock if they were to lose to Ross County.
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St Mirren enjoyed another successful trip to the Fountain of Youth Stadium last weekend, as they secured a 3-0 victory over Hamilton Academical in the third round of the Scottish Cup.
Goals either side of half time from Jamie McGrath, as well as a strike from Kristian Dennis, sealed a comfortable win for the Saints, who progressed to the fourth round of the competition for the 14th successive season.
In the Scottish Premiership, St Mirren are currently 12 points clear of the bottom two and head coach Jim Goodwin, although having no fears of relegation heading into the final five matches of the season, will still be keen for his side to finish the campaign strongly.
The Saints have won their last two league visits to Motherwell; the last side that they won three consecutive top-flight away games against was Falkirk back in October 2009.
Now that the Scottish Premiership has been split into two, St Mirren can only finish top of the bottom six and a victory on Saturday would consolidate that position.
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Team News
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No side has made fewer changes to their starting lineup in this season's Scottish Premiership than Motherwell (52, level with Hibernian), and Alexander is unlikely to make many changes once again on Saturday.
Goalkeepers Scott Fox and Trevor Carson, as well as Sherwin Seedorf, Liam Donnelly and Charles Dunne, are all ruled out with knee injuries.
Liam Grimshaw and Mark O'Hara are unlikely to feature this weekend due to illness but will be hoping to return to first-team action soon.
Forward Roberts, who has recorded three goals and two assists in his last six matches, is set to keep his place in attack alongside Cole and Tony Watt.
St Mirren's only injury concern is striker Eamonn Brophy, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken foot.
Dylan Reid – who became the youngest ever player in the Scottish Premiership when he featured as a substitute against Rangers before the international break – will be hoping to make his first senior start this weekend.
The 16-year-old or Kyle McAllister could replace central midfielder Ethan Erhahon in the starting lineup.
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Kelly; O'Donnell, Magloire, Lamie, Carroll; Campbell, Crawford, Maguire; Roberts, Cole, Watt
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy; Tait, Doyle-Hayes, McGrath, McAllister, Durmus; Obika, Erwin
We say: Motherwell 1-1 St Mirren
St Mirren beat Motherwell 1-0 at Fir Park earlier this season, and they will be looking to replicate that result once again, although the hosts will fancy their chances of claiming another victory on home soil.
All three encounters between the two sides this season have been tight with the last two ending as draws and with little to separate both clubs, we can see another draw played out this weekend.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 Mirren win with a probability of 42.86%. A win for Motherwell had a probability of 30.24% and a draw had a probability of 26.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a St Mirren win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.55%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.72%) and 0-2 (7.9%). The likeliest Motherwell win was 1-0 (9.32%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.75%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood.
