Preview: St Mirren vs. Livingston - prediction, team news, lineups

Two teams in the bottom half of the Scottish Premier League will collide on Saturday when Livingston travel to the SMiSA Stadium to face St Mirren.

The hosts have not managed a victory in their previous four outings while the visitors are looking to get back to winning ways for the first time in two games following consecutive draws.

Match preview

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St Mirren have recently slipped down to eighth in the Scottish Premier League table, and that is something they will want to set right this weekend.

Given that they are level on points with both Aberdeen and Hibernian, the Buddies have a chance to potentially climb the division with a victory.

However, they will need to stop their recent form in order to do so after failing to win during their last four matches, which included two draws and defeats.

Their previous match before the international break ended goalless between them and St Johnstone, managing just three shots on target within 90 minutes.

The squad will take confidence from the fact that they beat Livingston when they met earlier on in the season, with a goal from Ethan Erhahon proving to be enough to separate the teams.

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That is something Livingston cannot afford to repeat at the weekend as they sit directly above the relegation zone, and there are just two points between them and Dundee.

A defeat on Saturday could see them slip into the bottom two and would also allow Ross County to put them under pressure, which is something the club would like to avoid.

Despite the fact they are lower than St Mirren in the table right now, the Lions are actually in stronger form, having built up a four-game unbeaten run.

Livingston defeated St Johnstone and Ross County and then followed that up with draws against Dundee United and Celtic.

However, to make those previous two matches more impressive, they did finish both of them with 10 men, with the discipline factor being something that the team must focus on.

Team News

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Given the impressive performances that St Mirren have been putting out lately, there is a chance that an unchanged starting XI will be named on Saturday.

Defensively, the back three is likely to remain after keeping a clean sheet in their last game, but Eamonn Brophy could be brought back into the team after being used as a bench in that match.

Livingston will be without Ayo Obileye for this fixture due to suspension, which will force at least one defensive change to the back five that the Lions use.

Andrew Shinnie returned to the team prior to the international break, boosting the attacking options, and he is likely to retain his place within the team.

St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Shaughnessy, McCarthy, Fraser; Tanser, Tait, Power, Flynn, Ronan; Mcrath, Main

Livingston possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Kelly, Parkes, Fitzwater, Devlin, Longridge; Shinnie, Holt, Omeonga, Bailey; Anderson

We say: St Mirren 0-2 Livingston

Livingston might be lower down in the league table, but the recent form certainly favours them and that is why they could end up securing all three points in this match.

They have proven themselves to be resilient with their recent draws with 10 men and they certainly have the attacking qualities to cause a threat as well.

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