St Mirren, looking to maintain their recent upturn in form, will visit Tannadice Park to take on Dundee United on Saturday afternoon in the Scottish Premiership.
The visitors sit sixth in the standings with 18 points from 14 matches, while the hosts are fourth in the table with 20 points from 13 games.
Match preview
St Mirren have endured an extremely inconsistent opening to the 2024-25 season, though a recent return to form has put them in a strong position heading into this match.
A positive start to the campaign saw St Mirren win two of their first four games, drawing the remaining two, but a first defeat to Aberdeen sparked a run of poor form across all competitions.
That defeat triggered a four-game losing streak, including elimination from the Conference League qualifying rounds by SK Brann, before they ended the run with two consecutive draws, leaving them winless in seven matches.
Stephen Robinson's side beat Hearts 2-1 in their next game but then fell back into a run of defeats, losing to Motherwell (2-1), Dundee Utd (1-0), Hearts (4-0), and Rangers (2-1).
They finally ended the run with a 3-1 victory over St Johnstone and have since enjoyed their best form of the season, winning three and drawing one of their last four matches, including back-to-back victories heading into this one.
St Mirren's recent 2-1 victory over Aberdeen was a major confidence booster, as they handed the Dons their first league defeat of the season, with Richard Taylor and Toyosi Olusanya scoring the goals.
That will give St Mirren huge confidence coming into this game against Dundee United, although the hosts have also enjoyed a positive run of results in recent outings.
Having been promoted as champions of the Scottish Championship last season, amassing 75 points from 36 games, Dundee Utd have had a superb start to life back in the top flight.
Jim Goodwin's side are currently sat fourth in the table with 20 points from 13 games, after five wins, five draws and three defeats, scoring 19 and conceding 14 in that time.
They lost just one of the first eight league fixtures, a 1-0 loss to Rangers, before suffering back-to-back losses to Aberdeen and Motherwell, but they quickly rebounded with two draws and a win in their last three games.
The hosts have historically struggled in this fixture, winning just one of the last five meetings at Tannadice Park, suffering three defeats and one draw in that time.
Team News
Dundee United are set to be without Craig Sibbald, Kristijan Trapanovski and Ross Graham for this match due to injuries, with all three not expected to return for a number of weeks.
Sam Dalby scored his fifth goal in 10 Scottish Premiership appearances last time out, including goals in all of his last four, and the striker is likely to start alongside David Babunski here.
As for the visitors, Alex Iacovitti (tendon) and Charles Dunne (hamstring) have both been ruled out until at least December due to ongoing injury issues.
On the back of defeating Aberdeen, their first loss in the league this term, Robinson is anticipated to name the same starting 11 for this one, with Olusanya continuing in attack alongside Greg Kiltie and Conor McMenamin.
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Walton; Strain, Gallagher, Holt, Ferry; Thomson, Stephenson, Sevelj, Middleton; Dalby, Babunski
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Balcombe; Fraser, Gogic, Taylor; Bwomono, Phillips, O'Hara, Tanser; McMenamin, Olusanya, Kiltie
We say: Dundee United 1-1 St Mirren
Both Dundee United and St Mirren will come into the match with confidence from their recent strong performances, and with just two points separating them in the table, this is likely to be a closely contested game that we believe will end in a draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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