After St Johnstone narrowly avoided relegation last season, the squad will be keen to kickstart the new campaign with three points on Saturday when they face Hibernian.

The Hibees have had mixed results throughout their pre-season, including in the Scottish League Cup qualification group, which they now need to improve upon.

Match preview

St Johnstone found themselves in a relation battle throughout the entire 2021-22 campaign, but they ended up having enough to secure their safety at the very end.

The Saints needed to compete in the Scottish Premiership playoffs first though, as they defeated Inverness 6-2 on aggregate to secure their place in the top flight for another season.

Callum Davidson will be keen for his squad not to find themselves in that position once again, but to do that they will need to start the season in a much stronger manner.

St Johnstone have not been in the best form as of late, losing their first two Scottish League Cup group games, but they were able to bounce back from that with two improved performances.

The Saints followed up a win against Elgin City by defeating Ayr 1-0 in their most recent match following an early goal from Graham Carey, but it was not enough to push them into the knockout phase.

The visitors have also been inconsistent with their performances at the start of this new season, which is something that they will want to put right on the opening day of the Scottish Premiership.

Hibernian were beaten twice in the Scottish League Cup qualification group, with Falkirk and Greenock Morton handing them defeats without the Hibees even scoring a single goal.

Lee Johnson did see his team defeat Clyde and Bonnyrigg Rose in the same phase of the competition though, and they managed to score nine times in those two games, proving they do have attacking qualities.

Last season they managed 41 goals throughout the campaign, which helped them to finish in eighth place, but it was a difficult second half of the campaign that led to them slipping that far.

Prior to the turn of the year Hibernian had impressed with their performances, and that is something that Johnson will be keen to see return this time around.

Team News

Alex Mitchell and goalkeeper Remi Matthews both joined St Johnstone on season-long loan moves recently and will certainly be in contention to play on Saturday.

Carey will also be looking to feature after he scored the winner in their most recent outing, while Stephen May should remain an ever-present part of their squad.

Jair Tavares is one of the new faces in the Hibernian squad this season, but considering the fact he does not have too many minutes under his belt in the preseason, it could be a place on the bench for him.

Meanwhile, the likes of Ryan Porteous, Joe Newell, and Christian Doidge should all be able to retain their places in the starting lineup.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Matthews; Brown, Cleary, Considine; Wright, MacPherson, Hallberg, Montgomery; Carey, Murphy; May

Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Cadden, Porteous, Bushiri, Stevenson; Henderson, Newell, Kenneh, McGeady; Doidge, Melkersen

We say: St Johnstone 1-2 Hibernian

St Johnstone have the home advantage for the first match of the season, which is something that they will be aiming to make the most of when it comes to Saturday's fixture.

Despite that, Hibernian will be the favourites heading into the match due to their performances throughout last season, and that is something that should lead to them securing three points to start the campaign.

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