St Mirren and Dundee United will be aiming to climb into the top six of the Scottish Premiership with a victory when they lock horns in Paisley on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints have lost only one of their last nine games on home soil in all tournaments, while the Tangerines have failed to win any of their last 10 on the road.
Match preview
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St Mirren's hopes of reaching the Scottish Cup semi-finals for the second successive year were ended when they suffered a 4-2 defeat against Hearts in the quarter-finals last weekend.
After Hearts had taken a two-goal lead, strikes from Eamon Brophy and Connor Ronan restored parity for the visitors, but the hosts managed to re-establish their two-goal cushion, with Ellis Simms sealing victory for the hosts with their fourth goal in the 85th minute.
Stephen Robinson's men now turn their attention back to the Premiership, where there is a hotly-contested race for a top-four finish. Just one point separates the Saints in ninth from Hibernian in fourth place with just three games to go before the league splits in two.
St Mirren will fancy their chances of success on Saturday against an out-of-form Dundee United outfit, who they are unbeaten against in each of their last five meetings, including a 2-1 win at Tannadice in their most recent encounter in January.
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Like St Mirren, Dundee United were also eliminated from the Scottish Cup quarter-finals when they were beaten 3-0 at home against Celtic on Monday night.
The Tangerines, who failed to register a single shot on target, were outclassed by a rampant Hoops outfit, with goals from Giorgos Giakoumakis (2) and Callum McGregor condemning the hosts to their 15th defeat of the season across all competitions.
Tam Courts will have plenty to ponder as his side have now failed to win any of their last five matches, but hopes of a top-four finish are still in sight and a victory on Saturday would certainly boost their chances.
Dundee United will need to put an end to their miserable away form, however, if they wish to claim maximum points against St Mirren, as they head to Paisley after failing to win any of their last 10 league games on the road, drawing a blank in front of goal on five occasions in the process.
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Team News
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St Mirren boss Robinson may decide to make a few changes to his starting lineup, with Marcus Fraser, Ethan Erhahon and Alex Grieve all pushing for recalls.
Ronan, Greg Kiltie and Jordan Jones are all set to retain their advanced midfield roles, supporting central striker Brophy in attack.
As for Dundee United, Peter Pawlett is ruled out for the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, while Tony Watt remains doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Charlie Mulgrew, Ryan Edwards and Dylan Levitt all returned from injury to the matchday squad against Celtic – the former an unused substitute, while the latter two both started – and all three players will be in contention to feature this weekend.
Nicky Clark, who is the club's top scorer this season with just five strikes, is set to keep his place up front alongside Marc McNulty.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Lyness; Fraser, Shaughnessy, Dunne, Tanser; Gogic, Power; Kiltie, Ronan, Jones; Brophy
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Siegrist; Butcher, Edwards, Graham; Freeman, Smith, Levitt, Harkes, Sporle; McNulty, Clark
We say: St Mirren 1-1 Dundee United
Both sides will view this fixture as a winnable game and will be keen to claim maximum points as they bid to climb closer towards the top four.
However, with little to separate these two teams, a score draw could be on the cards in Paisley.
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 41.93%. A win for Dundee United had a probability of 30.28% and a draw had a probability of 27.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a St Mirren win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.42%) and 2-0 (8%). The likeliest Dundee United win was 0-1 (10.09%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.04%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 6.9% likelihood.
