St Johnstone vs Livingston 07/03/2020

[Kyle]

This is a huge game for us in terms of the top 6 battle. A win puts us right in the mix for that and goes a long way to securing our place in the top flight for next season. For Livi this is probably a must not lose given their position of strength and the fact that they tend to show up much better at home than they do away.

The proverbial game of two halves in August between the sides, with Livi absolutely monstering the first half - we were lucky to only be 2-0 down at the break in that game - only for us to come back and scrape a point in the second half. Dykes' last minute penalty miss in that game is probably his only misstep all season.

I'd  go for a 3-5-2 in this game. We sometimes struggle against Livi's physicality and we could  use the extra height and security at set pieces in this one. 

Clark

Kerr Gordon McCart

Wright McCann Holt Butcher Tanser

Hendry May

Might be a mistake playing Wright and McCann again as they looked eggy on Wednesday but I don't think we have the alternatives to play that shape. I hope Hendry makes it as we really missed him against St Mirren.

Will be delighted with any kind of win. A draw isn't a disaster in terms of keeping us in the league either, but I hope we go for it here.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Kyle

[LiviLion]

A nice away game to bring us right back down to earth 

Will be happy with a draw, ecstatic if we manage a win. 

[The Marly]

This is a huge game for us in terms of the top 6 battle. A win puts us right in the mix for that and goes a long way to securing our place in the top flight for next season. For Livi this is probably a must not lose given their position of strength and the fact that they tend to show up much better at home than they do away.
The proverbial game of two halves in August between the sides, with Livi absolutely monstering the first half - we were lucky to only be 2-0 down at the break in that game - only for us to come back and scrape a point in the second half. Dykes' last minute penalty miss in that game is probably his only misstep all season.
I'd  go for a 3-5-2 in this game. We sometimes struggle against Livi's physicality and we could  use the extra height and security at set pieces in this one. 
Clark
Kerr Gordon McCart
Wright McCann Holt Butcher Tanser
Hendry May
Might be a mistake playing Wright and McCann again as they looked eggy on Wednesday but I don't think we have the alternatives to play that shape. I hope Hendry makes it as we really missed him against St Mirren.
Will be delighted with any kind of win. A draw isn't a disaster in terms of keeping us in the league either, but I hope we go for it here.

Yep I'd go for that team. Need as many big guys as possible to deal with their long throws/set pieces. Is Muzz anywhere near ready?

[Kyle]

3 minutes ago, The Marly said:

57 minutes ago, Kyle said:

This is a huge game for us in terms of the top 6 battle. A win puts us right in the mix for that and goes a long way to securing our place in the top flight for next season. For Livi this is probably a must not lose given their position of strength and the fact that they tend to show up much better at home than they do away.
The proverbial game of two halves in August between the sides, with Livi absolutely monstering the first half - we were lucky to only be 2-0 down at the break in that game - only for us to come back and scrape a point in the second half. Dykes' last minute penalty miss in that game is probably his only misstep all season.
I'd  go for a 3-5-2 in this game. We sometimes struggle against Livi's physicality and we could  use the extra height and security at set pieces in this one. 
Clark
Kerr Gordon McCart
Wright McCann Holt Butcher Tanser
Hendry May
Might be a mistake playing Wright and McCann again as they looked eggy on Wednesday but I don't think we have the alternatives to play that shape. I hope Hendry makes it as we really missed him against St Mirren.
Will be delighted with any kind of win. A draw isn't a disaster in terms of keeping us in the league either, but I hope we go for it here.

Yep I'd go for that team. Need as many big guys as possible to deal with their long throws/set pieces. Is Muzz anywhere near ready?

He's getting his cast off tomorrow so no doubt he'll declare himself fit immediately as he always seem to do  

[thruthenight]

I'd bite your hand off for a point here. I think a point here is a massive step towards us keeping top 6.

Saints are a much better team than when we played back in August. On the other hand, so are we, but our away for is shite for a reason.

1-1. Saints to go ahead early, Lawless to score the last minute penalty this time.

[crispy]

A point would be good to keep up the momentum although as always we will target a win. Hopefully the physical efforts and mental hit of conceding in injury time don't come back to bite us on Saturday. I thought St Johnstone looked really dangerous in the game in January (i think) and it could've been a draw but for McCrorie's great save from O'Halloran. I wouldn't surprise me if they scored on Saturday.

A goal either way to settle this one.

[Templar Saint]

2 hours ago, The Marly said:

3 hours ago, Kyle said:

This is a huge game for us in terms of the top 6 battle. A win puts us right in the mix for that and goes a long way to securing our place in the top flight for next season. For Livi this is probably a must not lose given their position of strength and the fact that they tend to show up much better at home than they do away.
The proverbial game of two halves in August between the sides, with Livi absolutely monstering the first half - we were lucky to only be 2-0 down at the break in that game - only for us to come back and scrape a point in the second half. Dykes' last minute penalty miss in that game is probably his only misstep all season.
I'd  go for a 3-5-2 in this game. We sometimes struggle against Livi's physicality and we could  use the extra height and security at set pieces in this one. 
Clark
Kerr Gordon McCart
Wright McCann Holt Butcher Tanser
Hendry May
Might be a mistake playing Wright and McCann again as they looked eggy on Wednesday but I don't think we have the alternatives to play that shape. I hope Hendry makes it as we really missed him against St Mirren.
Will be delighted with any kind of win. A draw isn't a disaster in terms of keeping us in the league either, but I hope we go for it here.

Yep I'd go for that team. Need as many big guys as possible to deal with their long throws/set pieces. Is Muzz anywhere near ready?

Also need the match officials to watch their long throw expert Brown, whose throws against Celtic were mostly foul throws as both feet were not on the ground.  Probably asking to much for them to enforce the rules though

[Old Pack]

Hard game, but we need three points.

[RandomGuy.]

I watched the last game, and didnt think there was much between the teams. Livingston created the best chance and took it, while we created half chances and didnt, which is probably the full story behind both teams seasons so far tbh.

Winnable game, since it's at McDiarmid and not at Aldi, but the talk about players looking leggy last night has me worried. We have depth in certain positions but in others the drop in quality seems pretty sharp, so rotation isn't always perfect. Livingston seem incredibly fit and will drilled too so any fatigue will be exploited.

I'd take a point to continue to drag away from the bottom spots tbh, a bit negative with a top six spot still possible, but after the first few months of the season I'd quite happily take 7th/8th being secured early on and planning for the next season becoming the focus.

[LiviLion]

1 hour ago, Templar Saint said:

Also need the match officials to watch their long throw expert Brown, whose throws against Celtic were mostly foul throws as both feet were not on the ground.  Probably asking to much for them to enforce the rules though

Big team found

[LIVIFOREVER]

I think too much is made of our away form, just as it is with the plastic pitch, both are only flagged up because our home form is so fantastically good. Our away performances have been decent, fine lines with several results ending in draws from commanding positions, but the performances weren't 'shite'. 

 

Anyway, would take another draw here, but would love for us to take all 3 points and push for 4th place and be well out of the way of the teams chasing us for a top 6 spot. Huge game for both teams.

[crispy]

34 minutes ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

I think too much is made of our away form, just as it is with the plastic pitch, both are only flagged up because our home form is so fantastically good. Our away performances have been decent, fine lines with several results ending in draws from commanding positions, but the performances weren't 'shite'. 

 

Anyway, would take another draw here, but would love for us to take all 3 points and push for 4th place and be well out of the way of the teams chasing us for a top 6 spot. Huge game for both teams.

Aye, all of this. A couple of weeks ago Motherwell were the only team in the league with a better away points haul than home and the most uneven (home vs away) was St Mirren. People also seem to have completely erased the Celtic Park 0-0 game last season from memory. 

 

[Radford]

Away win % data:

• Celtic: 80%
• Rangers: 64%
• Motherwell: 50%
• Aberdeen: 33%
• Hibernian: 29%
• St Johnstone: 23%
• Kilmarnock: 21%
• Accies, St Mirren, Hearts: 14%
• Livingston: 13%
• Ross County: 12%

Livingston are no worse than 4 other teams but their likelihood of winning is bottom four standard. 

Home win % data:

• Celtic: 93%
• Rangers: 79%
• Livingston: 57%
• Motherwell: 47%
• Aberdeen: 43%
• Kilmarnock: 40%
• Ross County: 38%
• Hibernian: 33%
• St Mirren: 29%
• St Johnstone: 27%
• Accies: 20%
• Hearts: 14%

I actually think Livingston could get the win tomorrow. Huge incentive for them and a bit of pressure on Saints. I'm not sure our chopping and changing is so effective when we come up against well oiled machines. Do think 3-5-2 is the way to go for us though, Butcher back in the middle and hopefully Hendry is available. 

[Trackdaybob]

I am now going  

[tree house tam]

Aye, 352 for me. That system brings out the best in most of our players imo.

Would play Booth on left though.

[Afro]

Feel like I say the same thing each week, but our complete inability to win away from home will strike here again I fear. Wasn't much between the teams back in January at the Macarena, and I think it'll be the same story here, with Saints coming out on top by a goal.

IF (and that's a big IF) we could get a win here then I think, apart from the obvious boost to our top six chances, the mental boost for the players would be massive. Winning away against one of our rivals for the top six, on grass, off the back of a good home performance. Would be nice to go into the final quarter of the season in earnest with at least something behind us in that regard.

Happy to stick with the same 3-5-1-1 formation we used midweek - only change for me would be McMillan in for Lawson, who was honking in that first half. Crawford and Bartley maybe in contention for a start to freshen it up, too.

[LIVIFOREVER]

Going to be interesting to see what Holt does now Bartley is back fit, since signing Ambrose he's switched back to a back 3 in a 3-4-2-1 (prob went into a 5-4-1 for most of the 2nd half) against Celtic, and a  3-3-2-1-1 (fancy formatio n for 3-5-1-1 imo) against Hibs.

The Hibs line up would be the easiest to do, selecting the same players there, only switching Lawson for Bartley, would also say Schofield deserves his chance after McCrories below par performance against Celtic. Would've liked to have given Souda a start but really don't have a place for him, can't drop Pittman, Lawless or Sibbald. the same players and just switching Lawson for Bartley. Would also say Schofield should be getting a chance to start too, if there is genuine competition for places in goal then McCrorie dropped the ball (so to speak) against Celtic.

[Valentino Bolognese]

1 hour ago, LIVIFOREVER said:

Going to be interesting to see what Holt does now Bartley is back fit

If he plays, I'd expect he'll give him a few of niggly clips on the heel, leave a leg in etc and try to draw fouls off him to wind him up, and get in the ref's face a bit to try to get him booked.  No idea what your Holt will do though. 

Agree with Kyle's 3-5-2 team with Tam's swap at LWB. I don't see that as being particularly negative as Booth gets up and down the park well enough and he'll stop more crosses and cuts inside than Tanser would manage at the other end . He's playing for a contract extension or a job somewhere else so hopeful we'll get showcase performance out of him. 

2-1 home win. Comeback from a goal down with a shock double off the bench from Izzy Jones. 

Looking forward to this, not many home games left in this rollercoaster season and some good news that Callum "goals per minute" Hendry is fit to play. 

[LIVIFOREVER]

4 minutes ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

If he plays, I'd expect he'll give him a few of niggly clips on the heel, leave a leg in etc and try to draw fouls off him to wind him up, and get in the ref's face a bit to try to get him booked.  No idea what your Holt will do though. 

Agree with Kyle's 3-5-2 team with Tam's swap at LWB. I don't see that as being particularly negative as Booth gets up and down the park well enough and he'll stop more crosses and cuts inside than Tanser would manage at the other end . He's playing for a contract extension or a job somewhere else so hopeful we'll get showcase performance out of him. 

2-1 home win. Comeback from a goal down with a shock double off the bench from Izzy Jones. 

Looking forward to this, not many home games left in this rollercoaster season and some good news that Callum "goals per minute" Hendry is fit to play. 

Wondered where you were going with that. 

[Shaun De Bruyne]

Can you park at the Tesco next to the ground still?