Livingston bounce back to earth this Wednesday after their League Cup semi-final triumph over St Mirren at the weekend, welcoming Kilmarnock to West Lothian in the Scottish Premiership.
Livi are now up to fifth in the league table after a remarkable run of good form since David Martindale took over as manager, and Killie will not find this game easy.
Match preview
© Reuters
Livingston will need to re-focus after a 1-0 win over St Mirren at Hampden Park on Sunday afternoon secured their place in the Scottish League Cup final.
That result was fitting reward for manager David Martindale, who has overseen an extraordinary turnabout in the club's fortunes since taking over as manager from Gary Holt in November.
Martindale, who never played football at a professional level and has served a prison sentence for organised crime activities, has steered the club through an 11-match unbeaten run that has included two draws with Celtic as well as Sunday's semi-final victory.
That run has seen them climb right up to fifth in the Premiership table, eight points behind fourth-placed Hibernian, and the challenge now is to maintain momentum.
The last time these two sides met, on Boxing Day last year, Livi won 2-1 at Rugby Park, so the Lions have reason to feel confident.
Kilmarnock head into this game on the back of a week off, but their recent form has been marked by inconsistency.
In their last three games, Alex Dyer's side have lost at Hibernian, won at Hamilton Academical and drawn at home to St Mirren.
Now in seventh place in the table, they are five points above the relegation places and eight away from Livingston in fifth, meaning that results now are crucial in shaping which way their season goes.
Killie have failed to score in five of their last six away league matches, a depressing stat that shows they need to work on their attack if they want to start climbing the league ladder.
They have also lost five of their last six away league matches, so some resilience is necessary this Wednesday if they want to travel back to Ayrshire with something to show for their efforts.
Livingston Scottish Premiership form: WWWWDD
Livingston form (all competitions): WWWDDW
Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form: LLWDWL
Team News
© Reuters
Livingston's South African midfielder Keaghan Jacobs remains sidelined with a foot injury that might keep him out until the middle of next month.
Alan Lithgow continues his recovery from a hip injury but is unlikely to feature against Killie this week.
It remains to be seen if Martindale will freshen up his squad after Sunday's exertions at Hampden Park.
For Kilmarnock, Irishman Gary Dicker has been recovering from a knock sustained in December but did not feature in the team's last outing at Hibernian.
Other than that, Killie boss Alex Dyer has a full squad from which to make his selection.
Livingston possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Devlin, Ambrose, Guthrie, Serrano; Mullin, Holt, Bartley, Pittman, Sibbald; Robinson
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Rogers; McGowan, Dikamona, Findlay, Haunstrup; Mulumbu; Pinnock, Power, Tshibola, Kiltie; Whitehall
We say: Livingston 1-0 Kilmarnock
Livi look unstoppable at the moment under the leadership of Martindale, and we expect their good run to continue against Killie with a 1-0 win.
Although the Lions may have some tired legs in the squad after Sunday, they also possess supreme confidence at the moment, and that should be sufficient to take them to a narrow victory over a team that struggles away from Rugby Park.
Top betting tip
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 Livingston win with a probability of 49.25%. A draw had a probability of 26.4% and a win for Kilmarnock had a probability of 24.34%.
The most likely scoreline for a Livingston win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.13%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.64%) and 2-1 (9.12%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.42%), while for a Kilmarnock win it was 0-1 (8.47%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Livingston would win this match.
