Two teams at opposite ends of the Scottish Premiership will collide this Saturday at Easter Road as Hibernian host St Mirren.
Hibs are currently undefeated in the league and sit just one point behind Rangers, while the visitors are yet to win a game and find themselves above the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Hibernian were held to a goalless draw last weekend when they faced Hearts, which continued their impressive defensive performances as of late, marking their third clean sheet in four games across all competitions.
They have the chance to go five matches without a defeat this weekend with another positive result, which would keep the pressure on Rangers who sit above them in the league.
Jack Ross has guided his team to an impressive start to the campaign, and while they were knocked out of the Europa Conference League by Rijeka, they have been dominant elsewhere.
Hibs have actually only lost one game all season, which was in the European competition, and a lot of that has been down to the goals of Martin Boyle, as he has scored four times in the league already.
During the previous campaign, Hibernian were able to defeat St Mirren twice without conceding a goal, and if they are wanting to push into the top two in the Scottish Premiership this time, they will be looking for a similar result here.
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For St Mirren, they are still searching for the elusive first victory of the season, with a trio of draws being the best that they have managed so far.
While their campaign started out fine with a 2-2 against Dundee, a loss to Hearts and then a heavy 6-0 defeat against Celtic really impacted things, as they were knocked out of the Scottish League Cup as well.
However, the Buddies have shown some defensive strength in their previous two games, keeping consecutive clean sheets as they played out goalless draws against St Johnstone and Dundee United.
Scoring goals has been a problem though, having only managed to find the back of the net three times, with Joe Shaughnessy's finish against Hearts being their most recent in the league, which took place in early August.
St Mirren did dominate their most recent game, registering 15 shots, but the fact that only one of them was on target showcases the root of their issues that must be addressed to start turning draws into victories.
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Team News
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Hibernian were still without Jamie Murphy against Hearts, with the winger not managing to get over his hamstring problem, which casts doubts about him ahead of Saturday's match.
However, Joe Newell was fit enough to return in that game, while club captain Paul Hanlon was also brought back into the starting lineup, which adds even more quality to the squad.
Jake Doyle-Hayes was unwell at the weekend, but he might be an option against the Saints if he has been able to shrug that problem off in time.
St Mirren will be boosted by the return of Ethan Erhahon to the squad for this match after he served his suspension, which will add to the midfield options.
However, they will be without Greg Kiltie, who has a knee problem that will keep him out for up to 12 weeks, and Charles Dunne who is dealing with a hamstring injury.
Young midfielder Dylan Reid was handed his first start for the club against Dundee United in defensive midfield, and after helping his team keep a clean sheet, the 16-year-old might just have done enough to retain his place in the starting XI.
Connor Ronan and Matthew Millar were also brought into the team at the weekend, making their debuts for the Saints after they both transferred late on in the window.
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Macey; McGinn, Porteous, Handlon; Cadden, Newell, Magennis, Doig, Scott; Boyle, Nisbet
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, Shaughnessy, McCarthy; Reid, Millar, Tanser, Ronan, McGrath; Main, Brophy
We say: Hibernian 3-0 St Mirren
Hibernian will be looking to continue their undefeated start to the season here, and with the confidence they have in front of goal, they should be able to cause plenty of problems.
Even though St Mirren have been strong at the back in recent games, Hibs should have a little too much quality for them to handle in this particular fixture.
Top tip
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 Hibernian win with a probability of 59.52%. A draw had a probability of 23% and a win for St Mirren had a probability of 17.45%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hibernian win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.95%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.5%) and 2-1 (9.69%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.9%), while for a St Mirren win it was 0-1 (6.14%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.1% likelihood.
