St Johnstone travel to Rugby Park on Saturday for a Scottish Premiership clash against Kilmarnock that pits the eighth-placed side against the ninth.
These two teams are locked together on 24 points, though Killie have played a game less than the Perth Saints.
Match preview
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Kilmarnock boss Alex Dyer has stated this week that he wants his team to look to Livingston's recent form for inspiration as the Ayrshiremen look to climb the league table.
Killie travelled to Livi on Wednesday evening and were beaten 2-0 by the Scottish Premiership's form side.
That was the second time in the last six weeks that Dyer's men have lost to Livingston, and it was their second consecutive loss after a 2-0 reverse away at Hibernian on January 16.
Prior to that loss at Easter Road, Dyer's team were unbeaten in three, so consistency remains an issue for the Ayrshire side.
St Johnstone reached the final of the League Cup last weekend with an impressive 3-0 win over Hibs in the semi-final at Hampden Park.
They showed little sign of a cup hangover in midweek when they held third-placed Aberdeen to a goalless draw at McDiarmid Park.
That means the Perth Saints have now gone six games in all competitions without defeat, although four of those results have been draws.
Manager Callum Davidson was pleased with a point from a hard-fought encounter with the Dons, and praised his defence in his post-match comments.
He was also pleased that Glenn Middleton, the winger who signed on loan from Rangers earlier this week, was able to get into the action late on.
Middleton almost produced a winner for the Saints, so it will be interesting to see if he is selected in the starting lineup on Saturday.
St Johnstone have only won once in their last 12 league matches so could use three points, and they will take confidence from the fact that they have won their last three matches against Killie in all competitions.
Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form: LWDWLL
St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form: LDDDWD
St Johnstone form (all competitions): DDDWWD
Team News
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George Oakley signed for Killie this week, with the former Hamilton Academical striker returning to Scottish football on a loan deal from Bulgarian side Pirin Blagoevgrad until the end of the season.
He started up front against Livingston and should keep his place for the visit of St Johnstone this weekend.
Kirk Broadfoot remains an absentee until mid-February, while Calum Waters's abdominal injury is expected to keep him out for a couple of weeks yet.
Gary Dicker has returned to training and could make an appearance at the weekend for the Ayrshire side.
Callum Davidson's squad has a clean bill of health and there are no new injury concerns for the Saints boss after the midweek draw with the Dons.
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Rogers; McGowan, Rossi, Findlay, Haunstrup; Burke, Power, Tshibola, Pinnock; McKenzie; Oakley
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Clark; Kerr, Gordon, McCart; Rooney, Davidson, Bryson, Tanser; O'Halloran, Conway; Kane
We say: Kilmarnock 0-0 St Johnstone
St Johnstone are a team who have drawn plenty of games in recent weeks and we expect that trend to continue in Ayrshire on Saturday.
We predict the second goalless draw for the Saints in a week, while Killie probably will not be unhappy to end their recent short run of defeats with a point.
Top betting 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 St Johnstone win with a probability of 40.57%. A win for Kilmarnock had a probability of 32.44% and a draw had a probability of 27%.
The most likely scoreline for a St Johnstone win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.5%) and 0-2 (7.35%). The likeliest Kilmarnock win was 1-0 (9.64%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.8%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that St Johnstone would win this match.
