Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s Scottish Premiership clash between St Johnstone and Hearts, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Aiming to continue their impressive winning streak, Europe-chasing Hearts will make the trip to McDiarmid Park to face St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday night.
The Saints squeezed past Ross County to earn three points last time out, whilst the Jambos came out on top of a five-goal thriller at Dundee.
Match preview
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St Johnstone extended their unbeaten run in the Premiership to four matches and secured their maiden success in any competition since December 16 on the weekend, collecting a narrow victory for their efforts against Derek Adams’s Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium in Dingwall.
Netting his first goal for the Saints since arriving in the January transfer window, Swedish striker Benjamin Kimpioka made the net ripple for the visitors, and despite plenty of second-half pressure from the Staggies, they were unable to breach the net of Dimitar Mitov.
After earning five points from three Premiership matches since the shock Scottish Cup exit at the hands of second-tier Airdrieonians, St Johnstone have moved up to ninth in the top-tier standings, with a maximum on Wednesday potentially enough to see them leapfrog sixth-placed Dundee.
Only basement dwellers Livingston have scored fewer times than the Saints this season, with Wednesday’s hosts netting just 16 goals in 23 Premiership matches – 32-year-old Nicky Clark leads the club’s Golden Boot race with four strikes since returning from injury in late October.
St Johnstone’s record at Diarmid Park is relatively impressive – only league leaders Celtic, Rangers and Kilmarnock have lost fewer matches in front of their home faithful, however just three wins from 12 Premiership home matches is a record that is hindering the Saints’ top-six ambitions.
Hearts’ winning run across the Premiership and the Scottish Cup now stands at an impressive five matches after a thrilling 3-2 victory at The Scot Foam Stadium at Dens Park on Saturday afternoon, when the visitors came from 2-1 down to earn a much-needed three points on the road.
The Jambos found themselves one goal behind heading into the final 30 minutes of the contest due to strikes from Jordan McGhee and Lyall Cameron for the Dark Blues, however Scotland international Lawrence Shankland bagged a brilliant brace to turn the result on its head.
After missing out on Europa Conference League group-stage football following a loss to Greek side PAOK in the playoff round in August, Steven Naismith’s side are on course for a top-three finish in the 2023-24 term, currently sitting 12 points ahead of fourth-placed Kilmarnock.
Killie’s acquisition of former Motherwell marksman Kevin van Veen raised plenty of eyebrows on the final day of the January window, however Hearts already had an elite striker at this level in the form of 28-year-old Shankland, who has netted 16 of his side’s 32 league goals so far.
Only the title-chasing duo of Celtic and Rangers have collected more points on the road than the Jambos this term, with Wednesday’s visitors winning eight of their 12 Premiership away matches in 2023-24, with their last defeat away from Tynecastle Park arriving at Aberdeen on December 9.
St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form:
St Johnstone form (all competitions):
Hearts Scottish Premiership form:
Hearts form (all competitions):
Team News
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After keeping a first clean sheet of 2024 last time out, St Johnstone are expected to name a centre-back pairing of Andrew Considine and Ryan McGowan once again.
There could be a change of personnel at right-back, though, with 28-year-old David Keltjens being replaced by Oludare Olufunwa at half time on Saturday.
Leading goalscorer Clark had to settle for a place on the bench on the weekend, however the four-goal striker could be brought into the XI at the expense of 16-year-old Franciszek Franczak.
Jorge Grant and Yutaro Oda were both substituted with Hearts 2-1 behind at Dundee on Saturday, with the pair unlikely to retain their starting spots on Wednesday night.
Costa Rica international Kenneth Vargas provided an assist off the bench at Dens Park, and the 21-year-old could be rewarded with a start against St Johnstone.
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Mitov; Olufunwa, McGowan, Considine, Robinson; Kucheriavyi, Smith, Carey, Gallacher; Clark, Kimpioka
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Clark; Lembikisa, Sibbick, Kent, Cochrane; Nieuwenhof, Baningime; Fraser, Vargas, Forrest; Shankland
We say: St Johnstone 1-2 Hearts
St Johnstone have enjoyed a productive unbeaten run in the Premiership of late, but the visit of Hearts on Wednesday night will be the toughest test of 2024 to date.
The Jambos have scored at least twice in their last six matches, and we expect that trend to continue here as Naismith’s side record another victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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