Preview: St Johnstone vs. Kilmarnock â€“ prediction, team news, lineups

St Johnstone head into their Scottish Premiership encounter with Kilmarnock on Friday night looking to extend their unbeaten record in all competitions to five matches.

Meanwhile, Kilmarnock make the trip to McDiarmid Park on the back of two 1-0 home defeats to Hibernian and Rangers.

Match preview

St Johnstone have managed to put together a string of good results in recent weeks, which has seen them score 14 goals in their last four matches.

A 7-0 Scottish Cup win over Brechin City was followed by a thrilling 5-3 victory away at Hamilton, with striker Stevie May scoring five goals across those two encounters.

Last weekend however saw their goalscoring spree come to an end with a 0-0 draw at home to Dundee United.

Midfielder David Wotherspoon missed several chances and manager Callum Davidson has called for the 30-year-old to be more clinical in front of goal now that he is playing slightly higher up the pitch.

A win for the Saints would see them move level on points with their opponents, although Kilmarnock would still be sitting one place above them with a greater goal difference.

Kilmarnock have struggled to kick-on from their three league wins in a row between September and October after suffering back-to-back defeats, most recently to Rangers.

Killie were hoping to win their fourth match in two seasons against the Gers at Rugby Park, however a penalty from James Tavernier secured a narrow 1-0 victory for the league leaders.

Manager Alex Dyer made his Kilmarnock side tougher to break down in their last two matches, after previously losing 3-0 to both Falkirk and Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup.

Kilmarnock had a poor start to their Scottish Cup campaign but a victory on Friday could help build momentum for their upcoming matches against Clyde and Dumbarton in Group E as well as for their league campaign.

A victory over St Johnstone could see Killie move up to fifth in the Scottish Premiership, six points clear of the Saints.

St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form: LLLLWD St Johnstone form (all competitions): LLWWWD

Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form: LWWWLL Kilmarnock form (all competitions): WLLWLL

Team News

Saints goalkeeper Zander Clark is likely to remain as Callum Davidson's number one after starting the previous four league matches, with Elliot Parish set to remain on the bench.

Inform striker Stevie May, who has six goals in all competitions this season, will likely keep his place up front.

Forward Callum Hendry and midfielder Craig Conway will be pushing to start in support of May in attack.

Alex Dyer is likely to make minimal changes from the side that lost to Rangers last Sunday.

Greg Kiltie may replace Rory McKenzie on the left-wing and Zeno Rossi could start at right-back with Ross Millen dropping to the bench.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup: Clark; Kerr, Gordon, McCart; McNamara, McCann, Davidson, Wotherspoon, Tanser; Hendry, May

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup: Rogers; Rossi, Broadfoot, Findlay, Waters; Power, Dicker, Tshibola; Burke, Kabamba, Kiltie

We say: St Johnstone 1-2 Kilmarnock

Both sides have been scoring freely this campaign with Kilmarnock trio Burke, Kabamba and Kiltie scoring a total of 10 goals between them, while St Johnstone have netted 14 in their last four matches. The visitors have lost their last two meetings with the Saints by a 2-1 scoreline, however roles could be reversed on Friday night.

Top betting 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.Over 1.5:data