Hearts vs St Mirren
Scottish Premiership
Saturday
23rd December 2023
Tynecastle
The most comprehensive preview, detailed analysis and reliable predictions of the Scottish Premiership fixture between Hearts and St Mirren.
Hearts vs St Mirren: Preview
Hearts form analysis
The Jam Tarts have experienced a mixed run of form in recent Scottish Premiership matches, recording two wins, two defeats and a draw from their last five games. On 25th November, Robbie Neilson’s side ground out a narrow 1-0 home victory over St Johnstone courtesy of a second half Lawrence Shankland goal. They followed that up with another 1-0 win away at relegation-threatened Kilmarnock, benefitting from an early own goal by defender William Dennis.
However, Hearts’ next two matches saw them come up just short against the league’s top two sides – losing 0-1 at home to Rangers after Alfredo Morelos’ strike then conceding late on to suffer a 1-2 defeat away to Aberdeen despite leading through Shankland. The Jambos quickly bounced back last time out though, producing one of their best displays this season to impressively beat champions Celtic 2-0 at Parkhead. Early goals from the prolific Shankland and Stephen Kingsley earned Hearts all three points.
So Hearts have proved capable of mixing it with the Premiership’s best teams this season, but must work on maintaining consistency against the so-called lesser sides. Staying hard to beat and clinical going forward will be key to sustaining their push for Europe.
St Mirren form analysis
St. Mirren have struggled for consistent form in the Scottish Premiership recently, recording just one win from their last five matches. After a promising start, the Buddies suffered a narrow 1-0 loss away to relegation rivals Ross County at the end of November courtesy of a late Jonathan White strike. This preceded back-to-back single goal defeats against Rangers at home and then St Johnstone away, unable to find a cutting edge in attack.
However, Stephen Robinson’s side got back to winning ways in emphatic fashion in their next match, dispatching Ross County 2-0 at home thanks to an own goal and a strike from Jordan Ayunga. Most recently though, St Mirren were held to a goalless home draw by Motherwell, failing to capitalize on their renewed confidence from the previous victory. With only three goals scored compared to five conceded in this run, improving productivity at both ends of the pitch will be vital if inconsistent St Mirren are to pull away from the drop zone.
