ST MIRREN haven't left themselves with much margin for error in their Scottish League Cup group and could face another embarrassing early exit if they slip to a second successive defeat at home to Arbroath.
The Buddies came up short this time last year, losing to both the Red Lichties and Airdrie as they could only finish third in their section.
And despite an excellent Premiership campaign that saw them finish in the top six, Stephen Robinson's side have suffered more teething trouble in the new campaign.
A shock 1-0 loss at Montrose in their opener has left St Mirren playing catch up once more and they sit bottom of the pile in Group H, six points behind surprise pace-setters Forfar.
Arbroath won all four of their group games last term but Dick Campbell's side have also started poorly, ruining one of Wednesday's Super Singles as they drew 1-1 at home to Lowland League side Cowdenbeath before coming out on top in the shootout.
The Red Lichties were a disappointment in last season's Championship, only avoiding a drop to League One in the final few weeks of the campaign.
So they will be looking to find some form in the League Cup before action gets underway in what should be another brutally competitive season in the second tier.
How the bookies view it
Despite that shock defeat to Montrose, St Mirren are heavy favourites for this one at a best 8/13 with Betway. Arbroath are as big as 17/4 at BetVictor while the draw pays 3/1 at William Hill.
Head to head
Arbroath claimed a 1-0 victory in Paisley when these sides faced off in last season's League Cup group stage. That was their first meeting in almost two decades but St Mirren have dominated the overall head to head, with 16 wins and just seven defeats.
Players to watch
Mikael Mandron has been handed the task of replacing Curtis Main up front for St Mirren and will be desperate to open his account. The Frenchman looks their best bet for a goal once a scorer market is priced up.
Michael McKenna has been a regular source of goals for Arbroath and opened his account with a penalty against Cowdenbeath in midweek. The midfielder could be their biggest threat again in Paisley.
Anything else catch the eye?
Betting on a tight game paid off for me in midweek as all three recommended bets landed during Dundee's 1-0 win away to Bonnyrigg so I'm going to take a similar approach here.
We only saw one goal when these sides faced off last season and both teams have lacked punch up front so far in this term's group stage. That makes under 2.5 goals a good option at 21/20 (Bet365) while betting against BTTS pays the same price with BetVictor.
Both these sides are strong from set-pieces so betting on corners could be wise but I've yet to see any prices in that market. It could take time to warm up so backing most goals to come after the break looks good at 21/20 with McBookie.
This Scottish League Cup match between St Mirren and Arbroath will be played on Jul 22, 2023 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best St Mirren vs Arbroath prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
