Hamilton Academical entertain Livingston in the Scottish Premiership in what will be David Martindale's first game in charge of the Lions.
A trip to face an in-form Accies side is a tough start for the new boss, but both sides will be targeting the three points on Wednesday night.
Match preview
© Reuters
Brian Rice's side have dragged themselves off the foot of the table after picking up seven points out of a possible 12 in recent weeks.
Despite this, the Lanarkshire outfit are still facing a fight to beat the drop, with their poor goal difference keeping them in the relegation playoff place.
Leaking goals has been a real issue for the Accies, with their 40 goals conceded meaning they comfortably have the worst defensive record in the top flight.
Their supporters will be viewing this midweek clash as a great opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the teams around them, although Livingston will have similar plans.
Gary Holt resigned from his role as manager at the Tony Macaroni Arena last month after a successful 27-month spell in charge, which included promotion from the Championship in 2018-19.
His departure came after a 1-0 loss to St Mirren meant the side had only picked up one point from their last five league outings.
Since then, Livingston have strung together four consecutive victories in all competitions, meaning they have risen to seventh in the table and booked a date at Hampden Park in the League Cup semi-finals.
Four places may separate these two sides coming into this encounter, but there is only one point between them as the bottom half of the Premiership table becomes tighter and tighter.
Hamilton Academical Scottish Premiership form: LLDWLW
Hamilton Academical form (all competitions): WLDWLW
Livingston Scottish Premiership form: LLDLWW
Livingston form (all competitions): WLWWWW
Team News
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Former Hearts and Rangers winger David Templeton is not expected to return to the Hamilton set up until the end of January due to the groin injury that has hampered him for the majority of the season.
He is joined on the treatment table by teenage defender Jamie Hamilton, who is suffering from a shinbone problem.
Right-winger Keaghan Jacobs is the only absentee for Martindale, with the 31-year-old out until the new year with a foot injury.
The new boss is unlikely to make many changes to the starting lineup after Livingston's recent good form.
Hamilton Academical possible starting lineup:
Fulton; Easton, Martin, Stirling; McMann, Martin, Odoffin, Hodson; Thomas, Callachan; Moyo
Livingston possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Devlin, Fitzwater, Guthrie, Serrano; Bartley, Sibbald, Mullin, Pittman, Forrest; Robinson
We say: Hamilton Academical 1-2 Livingston
Both teams enter this intriguing clash on the back of good results, and confidence will be high on either side. Hamilton may have the home advantage for this one, but they struggle to keep clean sheets, and the bounce of a new manager could see Livingston over the line.
Top betting tip
George Cannon
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 Livingston win with a probability of 54.71%. A draw had a probability of 25.1% and a win for Hamilton Academical had a probability of 20.19%.
The most likely scoreline for a Livingston win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.74%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.94%) and 1-2 (9.38%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.78%), while for a Hamilton Academical win it was 1-0 (7.4%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 10.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Livingston would win this match.
