Two clubs separated only by three points in the Scottish Premiership table meet at Fir Park on Saturday afternoon as sixth-placed Motherwell hosts ninth-placed St Mirren in a crucial top-six clash.
After losing his opening match in charge at Tannadice against Dundee United, new Motherwell boss Michael Wimmer has gone on to win each of his next two to boost The Steelmen’s hope of a top-six finish.
The German defeated Dundee 2-1 in his first game in charge at Fir Park before going to Ibrox and claiming a shock three points against Rangers on an afternoon where one of my two goalscorer selections landed.
St Mirren, on the other hand, come into this clash having lost seven of their last 10 Premiership matches following their 2-5 loss at home to champions Celtic, to leave them three points outside the top-six.
The Buddies have had a decent record on the road in recent months, winning five and losing four of their last nine Premiership contests on the road, including wins at Aberdeen, Hibs and Rangers.
How the bookies view it: Tough one to call
The bookies are finding this match a tough one to call, with BoyleSports pricing Motherwell at 13/8, whilst St Mirren are 8/5.
The same firm has the draw at 21/10.
Head to head: The hosts have done Well in this fixture this season
Motherwell have won both meetings between the pair this season, defeating The Buddies 2-1 at Fir Park back in September and 0-1 in Paisley in December.
Players to watch: More goals for Mandron?
Mikael Mandron has scored five goals in St Mirren’s last seven matches in all competitions, as well as in each of The Buddies’ last three Premiership contests on the road.
On-loan forward Luke Armstrong has scored two goals for Motherwell since arriving in January, including the opener at Ibrox last time out.
Probable line-ups
Motherwell have a lengthy injury list, with Aston Oxborough, Archie Mair, Paul McGinn, Ross Callachan, Jack Vale and striker Apostolos Stamatelopolous all out.
The Buddies will be without defender Alex Iacovitti and midfielder Conor McMenamin.
Motherwell: Balcombe, Balmer, Gordon, Casey, Sparrow, Halliday, Miller, Slattery, Thompson, Armstrong, Andrews
St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Alebiosu, Boyd-Munce, O’Hara, Phillips, John, Mandron, Olusanya
Anything else catch the eye?
Motherwell’s opening 29 Premiership matches this season have averaged 2.83 goals per game, with Over 2.5 Goals paying out in an impressive 21 (72%) of them, including in six of their last seven.
Those numbers rise when playing at home, with their previous 13 Premiership contests at Fir Park averaging 3.23 goals per game, with Over 2.5 Goals landing in 10 (77%) of them.
St Mirren’s opening 14 Premiership contests on their travels this campaign have averaged an eye-catching 3.21 goals per game – with Over 2.5 Goals banking in 11 (79%) of them – and backing goals is the way I’m keen to approach this one in North Lanarkshire on Saturday.
This Scottish Premiership match between Motherwell and St Mirren will be played on and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Motherwell vs St Mirren prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
GambleAware