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

St Mirren and Motherwell will look to maintain their unbeaten starts to the 2026-27 Scottish Premiership campaign when they meet at St Mirren Park on Sunday.

The Buddies have made a perfect start to the new season, winning both of their matches, while Motherwell head into the contest looking to bounce back from a disappointing Conference League exit.

Match preview

St Mirren narrowly avoided relegation last season after overcoming Partick Thistle 2-1 on aggregate in the promotion-relegation play-off.

Craig McLeish's side have made an excellent start to the new campaign, winning both of their opening Scottish Premiership matches.

The Saints began with a 2-0 victory away to Falkirk before following it up with a 1-0 triumph over St Johnstone at the start of the month.

St Mirren will be delighted to have kept two clean sheets already, but they will need to raise their performance levels against a Motherwell side who thrashed them 5-0 at this venue last season.

The Buddies have also endured a difficult recent record in this fixture, going eight matches without a victory over Motherwell, while their last home win against Sunday's opponents came in January 2023.

Motherwell finished fourth in the Scottish Premiership last season with 61 points from 38 matches, earning a place in the Conference League qualifying rounds.

The Well made a confident start to their European campaign, cruising to a 5-0 aggregate victory over HB Torshavn before seeing off HJK 3-1 on aggregate to reach the playoff round.

However, German outfit Freiburg proved a far sterner test, with Motherwell losing both legs and suffering a 7-2 aggregate defeat to bring their European adventure to a disappointing end.

They have also been knocked out of the Scottish League Cup after a 1-0 extra-time defeat to Stenhousemuir, meaning they have now lost three matches in succession across all competitions.

Their Premiership campaign has been a different story, though, with Motherwell unbeaten after two matches, taking four points from a victory over Hibernian and a draw against Falkirk.

St Mirren Scottish Premiership form:

St Mirren form (all competitions):

Motherwell Scottish Premiership form:

Motherwell form (all competitions):

Team News

McLeish is expected to be without Keanu Baccus, who is sidelined with an Achilles tendon problem, while goalkeeper Ryan Mullen is also unavailable due to a thigh injury.

Jacob Chapman is set to continue between the sticks, while midfielder Killian Phillips will be looking to maintain his impressive form after scoring three goals across all competitions already this season.

Motherwell are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation but will have to contend with several absentees. Callum Hendry is sidelined with a knee injury and is not expected to return until next month.

Experienced defensive midfielder Jordan McGhee is also unavailable with a hamstring problem, while Paul McGinn remains sidelined due to a knee injury.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

Chapman; Richardson, Fraser, Gogic, John; Carr, Nsio; Ramos, Phillips, Mochrie; Sule

Motherwell possible starting lineup:

Paulsen; Longelo, Moormann, Knight-Lebel, Sparrow; Fadinger, Priestman; Said, Booth, Vogt; Maswanhise

We say: St Mirren 2-2 Motherwell

Four of the last seven meetings between these sides have ended in draws, and St Mirren's impressive start to the season suggests another closely fought contest could be on the cards.

Motherwell have enjoyed the better of this fixture in recent times and will be eager to respond in the league following their Conference League disappointment. With both sides capable of finding the net, an entertaining 2-2 draw looks a fair outcome.

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