Hibernian Preview
Saints host Hibernian on Sunday afternoon in front of a live TV audience as they look for the victory that would keep alive their hopes of finishing top of the bottom half of the SPL.
Jeroen Tesselaar returns from suspension and he will surely go straight back into a defence which disappointingly leaked four goals at home to basement boys Dunfermline last time out.
That will mean a return of the normal back four of Van Zanten, Mair, McAusland and Tesselaar and I fancy Kenny McLean could drop out of a midfield four which I expect will consist of messrs Carey, Imrie, Goodwin and McGowan behind an in-form front two of Thompson and Hasselbaink.
It's arguably our strongest possible line-up and carries a lot of threat for a porous Hibernian defence to deal with.
James McPake has been the stand out of the loan signings for Pat Fenlons men and he will have his hands full dealing with a bang in form Thommohawk who will still be desperate to add to his 17 goals already this season in all competitions.
Should be a decent match with the promise of a few goals.
The game kicks off at 15:15 so why not spend a sunny Sunday afternoon at St.Mirren Park cheering on the darling buds !
Jeroen Tesselaar returns from suspension and he will surely go straight back into a defence which disappointingly leaked four goals at home to basement boys Dunfermline last time out.
That will mean a return of the normal back four of Van Zanten, Mair, McAusland and Tesselaar and I fancy Kenny McLean could drop out of a midfield four which I expect will consist of messrs Carey, Imrie, Goodwin and McGowan behind an in-form front two of Thompson and Hasselbaink.
It's arguably our strongest possible line-up and carries a lot of threat for a porous Hibernian defence to deal with.
James McPake has been the stand out of the loan signings for Pat Fenlons men and he will have his hands full dealing with a bang in form Thommohawk who will still be desperate to add to his 17 goals already this season in all competitions.
Should be a decent match with the promise of a few goals.
The game kicks off at 15:15 so why not spend a sunny Sunday afternoon at St.Mirren Park cheering on the darling buds !
Saints results of late have been steady if unspectacular with successive score-less draws against Inverness, Motherwell and Dundee Utd highlighting the improvements made in our defensive unit if also at the same time demonstrating the alarming lack of goals which has cost us dearly in a season which promised so much in the early months.
The buddies have fared pretty well against the Dons so far this term, winning by a Nigel Hasselbaink goal to nil in Paisley back in August before recovering from a two goal defecit in Aberdeen in early December to record a creditable share of the spoils.
The Reds have also found goals difficult to come by and both sides have recorded more goal-less draws that any other in the SPL this term.
David Van Zanten looks a sure bet to come in at right back with David Barron moving over to the left side to replace the injured Tesselaar whilst I have a sneaking suspicion that Aaron Mooy could get a start alongside Dougie Imrie in attack, with McGowan dropping back into midfield.
OPTA Match Facts
- St Mirren have picked up just two wins from their last 14 SPL meetings with Hibs (D5 L7).
- The Buddies have won only one of their last six at home to Hibernian in the league (D3 L2), and lost the last two.
- St Mirren are unbeaten in their last two at home in the league. The last time they went three in a row without defeat was in April 2010.
- The Buddies have hit four goals in each of their last two league matches on home turf.
- St Mirren have only taken maximum points in one of their last 14 league matches.
- Five of Hibernian's six league wins this season have come away from home.
- Hibernian's last seven league away games have produced a total of 31 goals.
- Only Celtic (432) have been fouled more often in the SPL this season than St Mirren (430).
- Hibs have given away nine penalties this season, four more than any other SPL side.
Divs Prediction
Having scored four goals in each of our previous two home outings, and with Hibs having been involved in so many high scoring matches on their travels this one surely has 0-0 written all over it !
The tempo of the game will probably be determined 24 hours earlier with news of the result at Dunfermline either relaxing or putting added pressure on the visitors as they look to consolidate and improve their position towards the bottom of the league whilst Saints really need a win if they are to retain any aspirations of finishing top of the bottom half.
Should be another entertaining game, and I'm going for a reverse of the scoreline the last time the two sides met in Paisley, St.Mirren 3 Hibs 2 with that man Imrie surely opening his account this week !
The tempo of the game will probably be determined 24 hours earlier with news of the result at Dunfermline either relaxing or putting added pressure on the visitors as they look to consolidate and improve their position towards the bottom of the league whilst Saints really need a win if they are to retain any aspirations of finishing top of the bottom half.
Should be another entertaining game, and I'm going for a reverse of the scoreline the last time the two sides met in Paisley, St.Mirren 3 Hibs 2 with that man Imrie surely opening his account this week !
Previously against our next opponents
Next Match Market Value Checker
Comments
Possibly one of the worst games I have seen this season
BUT for a change we managed to hold on to our lead and that makes it all worthwhile.
3 points won "ugly" are far better that no points lost "beautifully"!
I will take 3 more ugly wins to finish the season
RSS feed for comments to this post