Sixth-placed St Mirren are set to host fifth-placed Dundee United at The Smisa Stadium on Saturday, both aiming to build on their positive starts to the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership season.
Despite the overall strong start, the hosts have won just one of their last nine matches across all competitions, while the visitors are without a win of their own in their last three games.
Match preview
St Mirren kicked off their 2024-25 season by remaining unbeaten in their first four matches across all competitions, securing two victories and two draws during that run.
However, a 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen in their fifth outing triggered a significant downturn for Stephen Robinson's side, managing just one win in their last eight matches heading into this one.
They have suffered five defeats during that period, including a 3-1 loss to SK Brann in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round tie, which led to a 4-2 aggregate defeat and St Mirren ultimately crashing out of the competition.
Robinson's side seemed to be regaining stability with two draws and a victory in September, but any perceived progress is now threatened to be undone by a 2-1 defeat to Motherwell in their most recent outing.
St Mirren will be looking to bounce back from that defeat with a win against Dundee United on Saturday, but their visitors are likely to prove a challenging encounter.
Dundee Utd started their campaign with a highly disappointing defeat to Falkirk in the Scottish League Cup, but they quickly improved as they embarked on an eight-game unbeaten streak, winning six and drawing two in that time.
That run was brought to an end when Jim Goodwin's side suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Rangers, and they have failed to win in either of the following two games.
Goodwin, who has been at the helm since March 2023, is likely to draw confidence from Dundee United's strong away form this season, having yet to lose on the road in the league, a record the visitors will aim to maintain in this match.
Dundee Utd have actually already defeated St Mirren this campaign, securing a 1-0 win in the second round of the Scottish League Cup, but that is their only win in this fixture since March 2022.
Team News
The hosts will be without Scott Tanser for this one after the midfielder was sent off in the 61st minute against Motherwell for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Alex Iacovitti and Conor McMenamin are also set to miss out due to injury issues, though the latter is expected to return in the coming weeks.
The visitors are unable to call upon the services of Ryan Strain, who remains out of the team due to a hamstring injury that he is not likely to return from until later this month.
Elsewhere, Goodwin could opt to name the same team as the one that came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Kilmarnock last time out, with Louis Moult continuing in attack.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Balcombe; Fraser, Gogic, Taylor; Brown, Phillips, O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Bwomono; Olusanya, Mandron
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Walton; Adegboyega, Gallagher, Graham; Stephenson, Docherty, Sibbald, Ferry; Babunski, Dalby; Moult
We say: St Mirren 1-1 Dundee United
Both teams are on difficult runs heading into this game and will be desperate for a positive result here, suggesting this one could be a tightly-contested affair and we believe it will end all square.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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