Motherwell, looking to continue their strong start to the season, are set to take on struggling St Johnstone at Fir Park on Saturday afternoon in the Scottish Premiership.
The hosts are fifth in the table with 16 points from 10 outings, while the visitors are 10th in the standings with just 10 points from their first 12 games.
Match preview
Having finished in the bottom half of the table in each of the last two seasons, placing eighth in both pre-split campaigns, seventh in the post-split of 2022-23, and ninth in 2023-24, Motherwell have made a strong start in their pursuit of a top-half finish this year.
Stuart Kettlewell's side had a slightly shaky start to the campaign, narrowly progressing from their Scottish League Cup group by finishing just a point ahead of Partick Thistle, with three wins and one loss from their four fixtures.
They followed that by drawing with Ross County and losing to Rangers in their first two league games, but they quickly recovered with a 1-0 extra-time win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish League Cup, and have since won six and lost four of their next 10 matches.
With five of those victories coming in the league, Motherwell are comfortably sitting in the top half in fifth place with 16 points, four ahead of sixth-placed Dundee.
Despite that success, Motherwell experienced the disappointment of being eliminated from the Scottish League Cup semi-final by Rangers last time out, throwing away a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1, and they will need to overcome that setback if they are to secure a result here.
Motherwell will be strong favourites heading into this one, as the visitors have struggled in the opening stages of the season, leaving them in 10th place with just 10 points from 12 games.
Six defeats, one draw and just one victory in their opening eight Scottish Premiership fixtures saw the dismissal of Craig Levein, with Andy Kirk and Alex Cleland briefly taking charge on an interim basis.
Simo Valakari was appointed as the permanent manager after that run, and the new boss had an immediate impact as St Johnstone beat Ross County 3-0 and Dundee 2-1 in his first two matches at the club.
However, they have since fallen to two successive defeats to St Mirren (3-1) and Hearts (2-1), but with encouraging signs in both matches, Valakari will now be hoping to turn those performances into victories once again.
St Johnstone have been strong in recent visits to Fir Park, winning five of the last seven away matches against Motherwell and losing just once during that period.
Team News
Motherwell will potentially be without up to seven players for this match due to injury issues, including Callum Slattery, Harry Paton, Jack Vale, Paul McGinn, Ross Callachan, Stephen O'Donnell and Sam Nicholson.
Elsewhere, despite losing 2-1 to Rangers in the semifinal of the Scottish League Cup, a largely positive performance could mean that Kettlewell opts to name the same side here.
As for the visitors, Cameron MacPherson, Uche Ikpeazu and Sam McClelland are all expected to be missing from the matchday squad for this match due to ongoing injury issues, though all three are anticipated to return later this month.
While Valakari's side lost 2-1 to Hearts in their last outing, the Finnish manager will undoubtedly take positives from their performance, meaning a similar side could be fielded in this one.
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Oxborough; Balmer, Gordon, Casey; Kaleta, Wilson, Halliday, Seddon; Miller; Stamatelopoulos, Maswanhise
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Sinclair; Wright, Sanders, Cameron, Douglas; Carey, Sprangler, Holt; Clark; Sidibeh, Mbunga-Kimpioka
We say: Motherwell 2-1 St Johnstone
While the visitors have shown significant improvement since Valakari's arrival, the hosts have had an excellent start to the campaign, and with the added advantage of playing at home, we believe Motherwell will come out on top in this match.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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