St Johnstone will aim to leapfrog their opponents in the Scottish Premiership this weekend when they travel to face St Mirren, who are currently just one point ahead of them.
The hosts have only managed one victory in their past four games and they shall be looking to respond to a defeat against Dundee at the weekend.
Match preview
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After suffering consecutive defeats, the Saints have been able to respond well with a draw against Hearts and then a victory at the weekend when they faced Dundee United.
Callum Davidson's men secured the three points after a strike from Ali Crawford in the first half, with his team showing their defensive capabilities by hanging on for the rest of the game.
However, the fact that St Johnstone were unable to add to their opening goal did highlight an issue that the team have been struggling with, which is scoring.
The squad have only found the back of the net eight times this season, which is fewer than every team in the division, but Saturday could be a chance to change that against a squad struggling defensively.
St Mirren have struggled for consistency as of late, with a victory, two losses and a draw taking place across their previous four fixtures.
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Right now Jim Goodwin's squad finds themselves just four points above the relegation zone, with Dundee having put pressure onto the team at the weekend after earning three points at their expense.
The Buddies were beaten 1-0 by the Dark Blues, despite the fact they dominated the ball with 62% of the possession, as Max Anderson's 11th-minute goal proved to be enough for victory.
The defensive side of the game is something that St Mirren will be aiming to improve, after conceding 21 goals already this season, with only two teams in the league boasting a worse record.
However, they were able to secure a clean sheet the last time they faced St Johnstone, as their game earlier in the season was a goalless stalemate.
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Team News
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Both Lars Dendoncker and James Brown are in contention to return to the St Johnstone lineup this weekend after being unavailable on Saturday with injuries.
Shaun Rooney will still be unavailable for the team though, with this game coming too soon for him, yet Liam Craig can come back following his suspension.
St Mirren opted to keep the same starting lineup at the weekend as they had in their previous match and Goodwin could opt to do that for the third time in a row on Saturday.
Both Jamie McGrath and Ethan Erhahon remain injury doubts for the Buddies at the week, but Greg Kiltie could be an option to return into the starting XI on Saturday.
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Clark; Dendoncker, Gordon, McCart; Booth, Bryson, MacPherson, O'Halloran; Crawford, Middleton; Kane
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Shaughnessy, McCarthy, Fraser; McAllister, Power, Flynn, Tanser, Ronan; Main, Brophy
We say: St Johnstone 1-1 St Mirren
A team that are struggling for goals and another that struggle to keep them out is a situation that both teams will be looking to exploit for their own benefit.
However, there is a chance they will end up cancelling each other out within this particular fixture, which could lead to a draw between them.
Top 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 St Mirren win with a probability of 36.23%. A win for St Johnstone had a probability of 36.2% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a St Mirren win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.87%) and 0-2 (6.52%). The likeliest St Johnstone win was 1-0 (10.78%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.03%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with an 8.9% likelihood.
