One of Friday’s Scottish Premiership fixtures sees two mid-table sides in the form of Kilmarnock and St Johnstone go head-to-head.
Kilmarnock have not been on the best run recently and have not won in their last three, however, they have also managed to avoid defeat in their last two. Whilst they do sit in seventh place and just one point off the top half play-off league, Killie are only three points above the relegation spots.
Goals are the main problem for Lee Clark’s men at the moment and they are the second lowest scorers in the league with just 16 goals in 18 matches. They are also pretty bad defensively having conceded 30 goals – the second worst in the league. This begs the question of why Kilmarnock are not fighting it out at the bottom? The answer is that they have been picking up results against their main division rivals. They may have lost matches against the league’s top three teams but, other than that, they are undefeated in their other seven matches of the last ten and have not lost a match to a team outside the top three since a defeat at the hands of Ross County way back in August.
Home form has been okay for Killie with just one defeat in their last five matches. Unfortunately, they are unable to turn draws into wins – hence why they have only won two out of nine games at Rugby Park this season.
St Johnstone are currently in a lofty fifth, five points ahead of Lee Clark’s Kilmarnock, and have only lost once in their last five. Unfortunately though, much like Killie, they draw too many matches (6 in 17) to have any real chance of impacting the Scottish Premiership this season.
Tommy Wright’s team have only scored 23 times in 17 league matches, however, compared to the rest of the division, this is actually quite high and their solid defence which has let in just 20 goals this season, means they have a sturdy platform to build on.
Draws are certainly The Saints forte away from home having drawn four of their last five matches on the road. Whilst it is good to remain undefeated, perhaps Tommy Wright would prefer their away form from earlier in the season when they won more but also lost more. There is no point in being undefeated if you are constantly drawing.
These two came together back in October at McDiarmid Park where visitors Kilmarnock were the winners. However, given the form-book of both of these sides I think the draw, at 5/2, is exceptional value.
If you fancy something a bit safer than go with ‘Kilmarnock Win/Draw Double Chance’ at 5/6. We’re looking at something which, dare i say it, is pretty much nailed-on. As mentioned earlier, Killie have an exceptional record against similar teams in the division and aren’t likely to get beat, while they may snatch victory – especially with home advantage.
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