Kilmarnock head into their Scottish Premiership encounter with Ross County on Saturday looking to avoid losing three consecutive home games in the Scottish Premiership for the first time since November 2017.
Ross County, meanwhile, are hoping to win their first league match in six and end their dreadful run of form.
Match preview
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Despite winning their last two matches in the Scottish League Cup – beating Clyde and Dumbarton by a 2-0 scoreline – Kilmarnock's form in the league had dipped following three defeats in a row.
Hibernian, Rangers and St Johnstone all defeated Killie by a 1-0 scoreline, with Alex Dyer's side having just four shots on target across those three matches.
After scoring 10 goals in five of their opening six league matches, Kilmarnock have since only scored six goals in their last seven Scottish Premiership games.
Killie are unbeaten in their last four home matches against Ross County and are looking to win back-to-back home top flight games against the Staggies for the first time since October 2013 after beating them 3-1 in their last such meeting in February last season.
A win for Kilmarnock would see them remain in sixth place, level on points with Dundee United in fifth if they lose to Hamilton this weekend.
Ross County's slide down the league table continued before the international break as the Staggies drew 1-1 at home to Livingston.
Stuart Kettlewell's side have now only won one of their last 12 league matches – winning away at St Johnstone in September – losing seven and drawing the other four.
Ross County may have only won one of their last seven games against Kilmarnock, however they have caused Killie problems in recent meetings and have only failed to score in one of their last 21 top flight matches against them, that being a goalless draw in September 2019.
Victory on Saturday would end their poor run of form and could see the Staggies climb to sixth in the Scottish Premiership.
Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form: WWWLLL
Kilmarnock form (all competitions): WLLLWW
Ross County Scottish Premiership form: LLDLLD
Ross County form (all competitions): DLLDWW
Team News
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Kilmarnock defender Clevid Dikamona remains sidelined with a ligament injury but could be back in training before the end of the month.
Aaron Tshibola is one booking away from suspension but is set to start in midfield alongside Gary Dicker and Alan Power.
Ross County duo Ross Draper and Callum Morris are both sidelined with calf injuries.
Stephen Kelly, who has started the previous two league matches, could start again in midfield, while striker Ross C Stewart – who has started every league game this season – is set to lead the line once more.
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Rogers; Millen, Broadfoot, Findlay, Waters; Power, Dicker, Tshibola; Burke, Kabamba, Kiltie
Ross County possible starting lineup:
Doohan; Randall, Donaldson, Iacovitti, Reid; Paton, Kelly, Vigurs; Charles-Cook, Gardyne; Stewart
We say: Kilmarnock 2-0 Ross County
Ross County have conceded as many goals in the second half of their Scottish Premiership matches this season as Kilmarnock have overall in the competition. Kilmarnock have been struggling for goals of late but should have enough quality in the final third to secure the three points.
Top betting tip
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Kilmarnock win with a probability of 46.06%. A win for Ross County had a probability of 27.53% and a draw had a probability of 26.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Kilmarnock win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.91%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.03%) and 2-0 (8.59%). The likeliest Ross County win was 0-1 (8.68%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.52%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 4.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Kilmarnock would win this match.
