Dundee United, aiming to snap their losing streak, will host St Mirren at Tannadice Park on Saturday afternoon in the Scottish Premiership.
The hosts are three points adrift of the European spots after suffering back-to-back defeats, while the visitors sit sixth in the table, five points behind their opponents.
Match preview
Dundee United, who booked their return to the top flight with a Scottish Championship-winning campaign last season, have enjoyed a superb first year back in the top flight this term.
The Tangerines have remained inside the top six of the Scottish Premiership since matchday two of the campaign, when they briefly dropped to seventh after two draws to start the season.
Jim Goodwin's men won 14, drew eight and lost 11 of their 33 regular season fixtures as they secured a fourth-placed finish with 50 points, but Dundee Utd have started the post-split season in poor form.
Dundee Utd lost 5-0 to Celtic in the first post-split fixture, followed by a 3-1 defeat to Hibernian, meaning the Tangerines have fallen to fifth in the table and outside of the European places.
The hosts only trail fourth-placed Aberdeen by three points, and with three games remaining to try and clinch European qualification, Goodwin will be desperate for his side to rebound with a first post-split victory on Saturday.
Dundee Utd will look to draw confidence from their recent record against St Mirren, as the Tangerines have triumphed in all of the last four clashes across all competitions.
St Mirren are heading into this encounter sat sixth in the Scottish Premiership table with 45 points from 35 outings, after 13 wins, six draws and 16 defeats.
The Saints narrowly clinched a top-six finish thanks to a dramatic 3-2 victory against Ross County on the final day of the regular season, with Roland Idowu scoring an 86th-minute winner to lift St Mirren a point above Hearts, who were held to a 0-0 draw with Motherwell.
Stephen Robinson's side have carried the momentum from that victory into the post-split fixtures, drawing 2-2 with Rangers and defeating Aberdeen 1-0, but the Saints still trail fifth-placed Dundee Utd by five points and fourth-placed Aberdeen by eight points.
While a European place is unlikely with only nine points left to play for, Robinson will be hoping his side can continue their positive momentum as a foundation for a strong next campaign.
Team News
Dundee United will be without the services of Luca Stephenson due to a hernia, while the hosts may also be without Emmanuel Adegboyega after the defender was forced off with an injury last time out.
Sam Dalby has been a standout performer for the Tangerines this campaign, netting 14 goals in 32 league appearances, and the striker is likely to partner Kristijan Trapanovski, after the forward came off the bench to score last weekend.
As for the visitors, Elvis Bwomono (calf) and Evan Mooney (ankle) are both ruled out of Saturday's encounter due to ongoing injury issues.
Following their 1-0 victory against Aberdeen last weekend, Robinson could decide to field an unchanged starting 11 against the Tangerines, featuring Mikael Mandron and Jonah Ayunga in attack.
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Walton; Campbell, Gallagher, Sevelj; Strain, Docherty, Sibbald, Ferry; Babunski; Dalby, Trapanovski
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Fraser, Gogic, Taylor; Alebiousu, Phillips, Smyth, O'Hara, John; Mandron, Ayunga
We say: Dundee United 2-1 St Mirren
Dundee Utd have suffered back-to-back defeats, while St Mirren are undefeated in their last three outings, but the hosts have not lost in this clash since October 2022, and we expect that streak to continue with a home win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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