Preview: St Johnstone vs. St Mirren - prediction, team news, lineups

The two teams are at opposite ends of the table with the visitors sitting in fourth place, meanwhile, the hosts will be attempting to get out of the relegation zone.

Match preview

St Johnstone's struggles this season continued at the weekend when they were comfortably defeated 3-1 by league leaders Celtic, which left them in the relegation zone.

The Saints did take the lead in the game when Diallang Jaiyesimi scored his first goal of the season in the first half, but they were not able to hang onto that result.

The defensive side of the game has been a struggle for St Johnstone this season, which is one of the reasons they have the joint-worst goal difference in the league at the moment.

However, Craig Levein still has a good chance to guide the team out of the relegation zone as they are only two points adrift of safety right now.

The club has also been much stronger when playing at home, which is where all of their victories have taken place so far this season, which they will be aiming to add to here.

St Mirren were also handed a defeat by one of the Old Firm rivals this past weekend as they lost by two goals to nil against Rangers in a game where they struggled for possession.

It marked the second match in a row that the Buddies have lost, which led to them dropping down into fourth place in the table with the gap between those below them shrinking once again.

While they could leapfrog Hearts to get back into the top three with a victory in midweek, a defeat could also lead to them slipping down to fifth depending on other results.

Even though St Mirren have only won a single match in their previous six outings in the league, they will take some confidence from their previous meeting with St Johnstone.

It was an emphatic 4-0 victory for the Buddies when they last met earlier this season, and returning to winning ways in similar fashion would be a welcomed result at this stage in the campaign.

St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form:

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St Mirren Scottish Premiership form:

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Team News

Andrew Considine missed out on the defeat against Celtic at the weekend due to injury, and he will likely miss out once again this time around.

Jaiyesimi impressed in the defeat individually, and after scoring his first goal of the season he will be confident that he did enough to retain his place in the team.

St Mirren made several changes at the weekend as Ryan Flynn, Caolan Boyd-Munce and Jonah Ayunga were all brought into the team, but considering it resulted in a loss against Rangers it remains to be seen if they will retain their places.

Richard Taylor was also welcomed back to the team following an injury, and considering the fact he was immediately brought back into the starting lineup it is likely he will keep his place.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:

Mitov; Brown, McGowan, Gordon, Robinson; Costelloe, Carey, Phillips, Kucheraivyi, Smith; Jaiyesimi

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

Hemming; Fraser, Gogic, Dunne; Tanser, Baccus, O'Hara, Tanser; McMenamin, Mandron, Kiltie

We say: St Johnstone 1-1 St Mirren

While St Mirren might head into this match with the belief that they can get back to winning ways here due to the league position of the two teams, it is unlikely to be as simple as that.

Each team has a lack of confidence right now after some difficult results, and that could allow St Johnstone to take a point from the game.

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