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

The hosts come into this one off the back of being convincingly beaten by Rangers at Ibrox, while the visitors come to Paisley unbeaten in their last two games.

Match preview

St Mirren have made a promising start to 2022-23, sitting fourth in the Scottish top flight on 15 points.

Stephen Robinson has made a commendable impact at the Buddies since taking over in February 2022, which has started to shine through in recent months.

However, they were on the receiving end of a thrashing away to second-placed Rangers at Ibrox last week in their last outing. Despite creating chances in Glasgow, a double from Antonio Colak coupled with strikes from James Tavernier and Fashion Sakala condemned Robinson's side to their heaviest defeat of the season.

St Mirren have excelled on home soil so far in the Scottish Premiership, making the SMISA Stadium a difficult place to acquire points from as an away team.

They have the best home record in the league outside of Celtic and Rangers, winning four of their five home games in front of their own fans, which has brought about 12 of their 15 points achieved.

Their only defeat at home in the league came on matchday one in a 1-0 loss to Motherwell in July, meaning the Buddies have been unbeaten at home for almost two-and-a-half months.

On Saturday, St Mirren could overtake Hibernian and move into third place in the Scottish Premiership table, depending on other results across the division.

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes has overseen an improvement in his last two league matches, with four points from a possible six moving the Ayrshire side up to 10th in the league standings.

Last time out, Kilmarnock were denied a second win in quick succession at home to Hearts; despite going 2-0 up in the tie courtesy of goals from Chris Stokes and Kyle Lafferty, the Jambos claimed a share of the spoils dramatically.

Stephen Humphrys pulled one back in the 64th minute before a fantastic volley from defender Nathaniel Atkinson with the last kick denied McInnes what would have been an important triumph.

Nevertheless, Kilmarnock are unbeaten in two and look to have found their scoring touch in front of goal. In the previous match, a double from Danny Armstrong was enough to down St Johnstone 2-1, regardless of a late Theo Bair reply for the Perth side.

Before the last two games, Kilmarnock were on a three-match losing streak and looked low on confidence at both ends of the field.

Now in a much more encouraging vein of form, they will be looking to claim another positive result on Saturday afternoon in Paisley.

St Mirren Scottish Premiership form:

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Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form:

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Kilmarnock form (all competitions):

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Team News

St Mirren are likely to be without forward Toyosi Olusanya, who is recovering from a broken toe and missed the defeat at Ibrox last week.

Jonah Ayunga served his suspension against Rangers and could come back into contention for a start against Kilmarnock, whereas Keanu Baccus is at risk of suspension if he picks up a booking on Saturday.

For the visitors, Scott Robinson will miss out as he is still nursing a knee injury that has kept him on the sidelines for the entirety of the season.

Midfielders Fraser Murray and Liam Donnelly will also not feature against St Mirren due to injuries which will give manager McInnes food for thought in the central areas.

Danny Armstrong is at risk of suspension if he picks up a yellow card during the match.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:

Carson; Gogic, Gallagher, Dunne; Fraser, O'Hara, Erhahon, Baccus, Tanser; Main, Greive

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:

Hemming; Mayo, Taylor, Stokes; Armstrong, Alston, Power, Jones, Chrisene; McKenzie; Lafferty

We say: St Mirren 2-1 Kilmarnock

In a match with permutations at both ends of the table, both sides will view this as an opportunity to take three points to strengthen their league position.

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