Relegation-threatened Kilmarnock are set to take on top-six contenders Motherwell at Rugby Park in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday night.
The hosts are 10th in the table with 24 points from their first 22 games played, while the visitors are fifth in the standings with 30 points from 21 matches.
Match preview
© Imago
After impressively climbing from a 10th-placed finish in 2022-23 to placing fourth in the 2023-24 Scottish Premiership season, Kilmarnock have endured a largely underwhelming first half to the 2024-25 campaign.
Killie won just one of their opening 13 matches across all competitions, alongside six losses and six draws, a run that saw them crash out of the qualifiers for both the Europa League and Conference League and fail to secure a victory in the league.
Derek McInnes finally guided the side to their first Scottish Premiership win of the season when they beat Dundee 3-2 in their seventh matchday, a result that sparked a run of three wins in four matches.
They subsequently failed to build on that victory as they went six matches without a win for the second time this season, but their fortunes have appeared to turn once again in recent weeks, having recorded three wins, one draw and two losses from their last six.
Those results see Kilmarnock sitting 10th in the table with 24 points from 22 matches, leaving them a point ahead of 11th-placed Hearts and just three points behind sixth-placed St Mirren.
As for Motherwell, they have recorded a promising first half of the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership campaign, coming into this match sitting fifth in the standings with 30 points from 21 games, after nine wins, three draws and nine defeats.
They have endured an inconsistent run of results in recent outings, drawing two, losing two and winning just one of their last five, but a 2-0 win against fourth-placed Aberdeen last time out will certainly boost their confidence heading into their upcoming games.
With Stuart Kettlewell's side now holding a four-point lead over seventh-placed Hibernian, they will be looking to build on that recent win and further strengthen their place in the top six, a position they have not achieved since 2021-22.
The visitors have struggled in their recent visits to Rugby Park though, having failed to win in any of their last four away matches against Kilmarnock, with three losses and one draw.
Team News
![Stuart Kettlewell file photo of Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell, who is looking to tie down the majority of his squad before pre-season as he revealed every player knows where they stand ahead of Sunday s final game - 22/04/2023 [on July 26, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/30/stuart-kettlewell_1.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Stuart Kettlewell file photo of Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell, who is looking to tie down the majority of his squad before pre-season as he revealed every player knows where they stand ahead of Sunday s final game - 22/04/2023 [on July 26, 2024]")
© Imago
The hosts will be without the services of Kyle Vassell (shin) and Stuart Findlay (ankle) for this match due to injuries, but both are likely to return later this month.
Innes Cameron is also unlikely to feature after being forced off just five minutes into the recent defeat to Ross County, with Marley Watkins likely to start in his place.
Bruce Anderson is Kilmarnock's top scorer so far this season with eight goals in 16 appearances, of which just eight are starts, and Killie will likely turn to the forward to make the difference again here.
Motherwell are unlikely to be able to to call upon Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Lennon Miller (ankle) and Ross Callachan (hamstring) for this one due to injury concerns.
After brilliantly defeating Aberdeen 2-0 in their last outing, Kettlewell could decide to name the same starting side for this one, with Moses Ebiye leading the line.
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
McCrorie; Lyons, Wright, Mayo, Ndaba; Armstrong, Watson, Donnelly, Murray; Watkins, Anderson
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Oxborough; Balmer, Gordon, Casey; Kaleta, Zdravkovski, Halliday, Wilson; Maswanhise, Watt; Ebiye
We say: Kilmarnock 1-2 Motherwell
Kilmarnock are enjoying an improved run of results in recent weeks, but Motherwell's 2-0 victory against Aberdeen will boost their confidence heading into this one, leading us to believe the visitors will win here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
