St Mirren will be looking to move into the top four of the Scottish Premiership with a victory against Hearts in Paisley on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams are sure to take plenty of notes from this fixture before they face off against each other again in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup in two weeks' time.
Match preview
© Reuters
Stephen Robinson's first game in charge of St Mirren was put on hold after Wednesday's Premiership fixture away at Dundee was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The 47-year-old made the switch from English League One side Morecambe on Tuesday and has replaced Jim Goodwin, who ended his two-and-a-half year stint in Paisley to join Aberdeen.
St Mirren were enjoying a strong run of form prior to Goodwin's departure, winning six and drawing two of their last eight games in all competitions, and they head into Saturday's fixture against Hearts unbeaten in their last eight home matches, last tasting defeat back in October last year.
The Saints have lost both encounters with Hearts this term, including a 2-1 home defeat in August, but victory this weekend could move them as high as fourth in the Premiership table.
© Reuters
After beating Livingston on penalties to advance from the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, Hearts suffered their third successive Premiership defeat away at struggling St Johnstone last weekend.
A frantic first six minutes saw Nathaniel Atkinson cancel out Ali Crawford's 45-second opener; however, the hosts regained the lead midway through the second half through Jamie McCart, with his header enough to claim all three points and condemn the visitors to their eighth league defeat of the campaign.
Despite picking up just one point from four games this month, Robbie Neilson's men remain in third place, 20 points behind the top two and nine points clear of Edinburgh rivals Hibernian in fourth.
The Jam Tarts will be confident of returning to winning ways on Saturday against a St Mirren side who they have beaten in three of their last four meetings, scoring at least twice in each victory. Success in Paisley would see them record three successive league wins against the Saints for the first time since 2010-11.
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
St Mirren will still be without injured striker Eamonn Brophy, while Charles Dunne, who was sent off in the 1-1 draw against Livingston last time out, is suspended.
The absence of Dunne will likely see Conor McCarthy start at centre-back alongside Joe Shaughnessy, with Marcus Fraser and Richard Tait to continue as the full-backs.
Connor Ronan, who has contributed to four goals in his last five league games, is set to start in an advanced midfield role behind lone striker Alex Grieve.
As for Hearts, goalkeeper Craig Gordon and top scorer Liam Boyce are both available to return to the first XI after completing their self-isolation periods due to COVID-19.
Centre-back Craig Halkett could also be in contention to start after responding well to treatment for his hamstring injury.
The returns of Gordon, Boyce and Hackett would likely see Ross Stewart, Ellis Simms and Toby Sibbick all drop out of the side.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, Shaughnessy, McCarthy, Tait; Power, Gogic; Kiltie, Ronan, Jones, Greive
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Souttar, Halkett, Kingsley; Smith, Haring, Baningime, Cochrane; McKay, Boyce, Mackay-Stevens
We say: St Mirren 2-2 Hearts
Hearts have come out on top in both of their previous meetings with St Mirren this term, but Saturday's contest is set to be a much closer affair.
With the Saints heading into this fixture in much better form, they should be able to claim at least a point in an entertaining score draw on home soil.
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 36.89%. A win for Hearts had a probability of 36.39% and a draw had a probability of 26.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a St Mirren win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.02%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.12%) and 2-0 (6.41%). The likeliest Hearts win was 0-1 (9.94%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.7%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 6.3% likelihood.
