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

St Mirren will welcome Hearts of Midlothian to St Mirren Park on Saturday for a Scottish Cup third-round tie, with both sides aiming to secure their place in the next stage of the competition.

The hosts will be eager to bounce back from a slow start to the new season, while Hearts arrive in Paisley full of confidence after back-to-back league victories.

Match preview

St Mirren began their 2024-25 Scottish Premiership campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Celtic, conceding in the 87th minute to a Luke McCowan goal.

The Buddies followed that with a goalless draw against Motherwell, underlining early concerns about their attacking sharpness.

Stephen Robinson’s men have now gone two games without scoring, with both chance conversion and ball retention proving to be issues that need addressing.

Their record against Hearts also offers little encouragement, with just three wins in their last 10 meetings, losing five and drawing two.

Last season, St Mirren’s cup run ended early, as they exited at the second-round stage with a 1-0 loss to Dundee United.

Their most recent Scottish Cup success came in 2012-13, when they famously beat Hearts 3-2 in the final. Since then, their best finish has been a quarter-final appearance last season, when they lost 4-2 to Hibernian.

Robinson guided the club to sixth place last season with 41 points, having finished fifth the previous year - his best league performance since taking charge in 2020.

This summer has brought change, with 11 new arrivals and seven departures in the squad.

Hearts, on the other hand, also exited the League Cup at the second round last season after a 2-0 defeat to Falkirk.

They have reached the League Cup final twice in the past two decades, most recently in 2012-13, when they lost to St Mirren, while 2023-24 saw them reach the semi-finals before losing 3-1 to Rangers.

The Jam Tarts won all their group stage matches in the League Cup and are heading into the second round brimming with confidence and form.

This season, Derek McInnes' side opened their league campaign with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Aberdeen, benefitting from a Graeme Shinnie own goal before Stuart Findlay doubled the lead.

They then showed resilience in their second match, coming from behind to beat Dundee United 3-2, with Findlay scoring twice, including a dramatic 94th-minute winner, alongside a goal from Lawrence Shankland.

In 2024-25, Hearts finished seventh in the league with 40 points and parted ways with Neil Critchley after just one campaign.

Since their promotion in 2020-21, their lowest league finish before last season had been fourth.

Given their current momentum and the fact that they have scored five goals in their opening two games, Hearts will be confident of progressing past a St Mirren side still searching for their first win of the season.

St Mirren Scottish League Cup form:

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St Mirren form (all competitions):

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Hearts Scottish League Cup form:

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Hearts form (all competitions):

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Team News

St Mirren have no major injury concerns apart from new signing Liam Donnelly, who is sidelined with an Achilles tendon issue.

This gives Robinson flexibility in his selection, with Keanu Baccus who recently returned from Mansfield Town expected to feature in midfield after playing the full 90 minutes against Motherwell.

Robinson may continue with Mikael Mandron and Roland Idowu in attack, while summer recruits Richard King, Tunmise Sobowale, Miguel Freckleton, and Baccus have all already featured this season.

For Hearts, Craig Gordon remains unavailable due to a shoulder injury, while Jamie McCart is out with a leg problem picked up in pre-season.

Beni Baningime is still recovering from a knee injury, and Calem Nieuwenhof is hoping to return after a recent hamstring issue.

New forward Claudio Braga has made two appearances and is likely to keep his place in attack, while Alexandros Kyziridis has impressed early with one assist in two matches.

Stuart Findlay, on loan from Oxford United, has been a standout performer, contributing three goals and an assist in just two games.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

George; John, King, Gogic, Fraser, Richardson; O’Hara, Baccus, Phillips; Mandron, Idowu

Hearts possible starting lineup:

Clark; Findlay, Halkett, Kent; Dahle Borchgrevink, McEntee, Devlin, Spittal, Milne; Shankland, Braga

We say: St Mirren 0-3 Hearts

With Hearts in form and winning their two games so far this season, they look well placed to overpower a St Mirren side yet to find their scoring touch this season.

The visitors’ attacking options, combined with their defensive resilience, should see them advance comfortably to the next round.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.