St Johnstone will face off against Hearts at McDiarmid Park on Saturday afternoon in a clash between two teams near the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table.

The hosts are ninth in the standings with 10 points from 11 games, while the visitors are bottom of the table with just six points from their first 11 outings.

Match preview

In recent years, St Johnstone have frequently been caught in relegation battles, starting when they finished in the relegation playoff spot in the 2021-22 season, where they secured their top-flight status with a 6-2 aggregate win over Caley Thistle.

They followed that with a ninth-placed finish in 2022-23 and then narrowly avoided the relegation playoff place last season, finishing 10th and edging out Ross County only on goal difference after both ending with 35 points.

Craig Levein continued in the managerial position heading into the new season, but the manager was quickly sacked after taking just three points from their opening five league fixtures.

Andy Kirk and Alex Cleland were briefly in charge, recording one draw and two losses from their three games, with Simo Valakari eventually appointed as the new permanent boss.

After securing back-to-back wins in his first games in charge, 3-0 against Ross County and 2-1 against Dundee, but fell to a first defeat under the new manager last time out, losing 3-1 to St Mirren.

Despite the defeat, Valakari can take encouragement from their dominant 69% possession, and the manager will aim to add a clinical edge to that control to help secure a win this time.

Since their promotion as Scottish Championship champions in 2020-21, Hearts have consistently secured top-four finishes, placing third in both 2021-22 and 2023-24, and achieving fourth place in 2022-23.

However, the beginning of this campaign has been extremely challenging for the Jambos, sitting at the foot of the Scottish Premiership with just six points from 11 fixtures.

Steven Naismith, who had been in charge since April 2023, was sacked nine games into the season with Hearts having drawn one and lost eight consecutive matches, and there has been an instant upturn in form.

Liam Fox secured a draw, win, their first of the term, and a defeat in his three matches as interim manager before new boss Neil Critchley was announced, and he has enjoyed his start at the club.

Hearts amazingly won 4-0 in their first outing under Critchley, followed by beating Omonia 2-0, drawing 1-1 with Hibernian and falling to their first defeat under the former Blackpool boss as they lost 2-1 to Kilmarnock last time out.

Now looking to return to winning ways as they aim to move away from the bottom of the table, Hearts will face a side they have defeated in each of the last six meetings.

Team News

Andre Raymond, Uche Ikpeazu and Sam McClelland are all unlikely to feature for St Johnstone until at least early November due to a variety of injury issues.

Despite losing in their last game, aspects of the performance would have pleased Valakari, and that could mean the manager opts to name the same starting team here.

As for the visitors, Calem Nieuwenhof, Gerald Taylor and Yutaro Oda are all ruled out of the team until early November due to injury issues.

Elsewhere, while Critchley's side narrowly lost 2-1 to Kilmarnock in their last outing, the manager could decide to name a largely similar team for this one, though Daniel Oyegoke could come back into the side.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Sinclair; Wright, Sanders, Neilson, Cameron; Smith, Sprangler, Holt; Clark; Sidibeh, Mbunga-Kimpioka

Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Oyegoke, Kent, Rowles, Penrice; Forrest, Devlin, Boateng, Spittal; Vargas, Shankland

We say: St Johnstone 1-2 Hearts

While both teams have improved since the arrival of their new managers, the visitors have been particularly dominant in this fixture in recent years, and we believe that will continue with another win here.


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